Police are hunting those responsible for a hit and run attack on a 15-year-old boy in Waikato's Ngaruawahia

The teenager was run over multiple times while walking on Old Taupiri Road on Wednesday night.

Police believe he was deliberately targeted.

He's in hospital in a critical condition with injuries described as life changing.

Waikato District Council Mayor Jacqui Church says it's truly shocking.

She says she doesn't know how someone could do that to another person, let alone a child.