Police had been negotiating with a man in Kaiapoi before firing shots and critically injuring him on Saturday.
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price spoke to media on Sunday afternoon.
He said police had been alerted to a report of a man allegedly threatening a member of the public with a metal bar and a knife around 7.20pm in the Canterbury town of Kaiapoi - around 20km from Christchurch.
When they arrived the man allegedly attacked a police vehicle with a metal bar.
Price said the man had "advanced on police" before shots were fired and that "several attempts" had been made to de-escalate the situation.
"The man was not cooperative with the police, and he had tried to evade those police officers that attended," he said.
"Tactical options, including communications, tasers and OC spray were deployed multiple times. These did not have any effect on the man or his behaviour.
"The man then entered a private residential driveway, and police continued to negotiate with him."
After a period of further negotiation, police then fired multiple shots, injuring the man. According to Price, the injured man remains in Christchurch Hospital in a serious, but stable, condition.
He said the man had been struck in the abdomen, limbs, and chest.
The police superintendent said there had been 15 to 20 minutes between when officers arrived on the scene and when police used firearms.
He said the shooting was "not connected" with a stabbing that happened in the Christchurch suburb of Sockburn - though he addressed the two incidents at the same media conference.
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