INJURED MAN'S CONDITION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1933, Page 7

INJURED MAN'S CONDITION.

IDENTITY OF ASSAILANT.

This morning Mr. Bates was able to give Detective H. E. Knight a long statement concerning the shooting. Later" he underwent an operation for the removal of the bullet which was traced by an X-ray photograph. Mr. Bates stood the operation well and his condition this afternoon was reported to be quite satisfactory. Thq|suggestion was made by a police officer this morning that as no further trace had been seen of the wanted man since 11.45 last night and as the stolen car had been abandoned near the Ngaruawaliia bridge, the man responsible for the shooting had jumped over into the Waikato'River. The Auckland police have a definite suspicion of.the identity of Mr. Bates' assailant. They suspect a young man who did not return to his lodging last night. This morning the lodging-keeper, who did not then know of the shooting at Mercer, reported to the police that his lodger had not returned, and also that a large Smith and Wasson .38 calibre revolver and some ammunition had disappeared. In case the missing lodger and the man in the car • are identical the lodging-keeper to-day went with the police to the Waikato district, in the hope that he might be of help in inducing a surrender.