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Stabbing in Dunedin: Three people critically injured after supermarket attack
Hamish McNeilly, Sam Sherwood, Nadine Porter and Steven Walton17:23, May 10 2021
7-9 minutes
Five people have been injured, three critically, during a stabbing attack at a Countdown supermarket in Dunedin.
Witnesses heard loud screaming and saw a man brandishing two knives during an attack at a central Dunedin supermarket that has left three people with critical injuries and one with serious injuries.
The incident, which sparked a large armed police response, happened at Countdown in Cumberland St about 2.30pm on Monday.
Two staff members and two customers are among the injured. It is believed a fifth injured person is the alleged offender.
Police have said they believe it was a random attack.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Emergency services were called to a Countdown supermarket in central Dunedin after reports of a stabbing.
The Southern DHB confirmed three patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and one to the general ward. One patient is being treated in the emergency department.
One witness at the supermarket told Stuff: "It just sounded like someone fell over and then screaming got louder and louder.
"We walked past the aisle and we heard someone say, 'he has got a knife', so we just kept moving forward."
Do you know more? Contact [email protected]
Asked what the person looked like, the man said: "Curly hair, quite a messy little fellow."
It is understood a woman received stab wounds to her hands, while another person had to be revived inside the supermarket.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media there was nothing at this stage that suggested it was a domestic terror event.
The Otago Daily Times reported members of the public had pinned down the offender, but he had been able to wrestle his way free before police arrived.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Workers make their way to safety after a suspected stabbing.
A witness told the ODT a man was arrested and was walked to the Dunedin Central Police Station, next door to the supermarket, covered in blood.
RNZ reported a witness saying the attacker was carrying two knives.
A Stuff reporter at the scene said the incident appeared to have unfolded in a pharmacy within the supermarket, where items are strewn across an aisle.
"There are four or five police staff working inside a cordon in that area, including forensics and a photographer."
STUFF
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says at this stage there is no indication the stabbing at a Dunedin supermarket was a "domestic terror event".
Pharmacy workers looked shaken and hugged each other when they emerged from the building soon among Countdown staff soon after the incident, one saying only that it was "scary".
Countdown's managing director Spencer Sonn said the company was "shocked and devastated" by the events.
The company's priority was “our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event”.
“We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured," Sonn said.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Emergency services at a Countdown supermarket in central Dunedin.
"We have been concerned about the escalating violence towards our team, and this is something we have continued to talk and raise as an issue over the last year. Our amazing team comes to work to serve Kiwis every day, and our customers visit our stores knowing that they will be safe.
"We are heartbroken that this wasn’t the case today."
The store would remain closed for at least the next two days, he said.
In a written statement, Southern District Commander Superintendent Paul Basham said police were still working to understand the motivations for the stabbing “however, on the face of what we currently know, we believe this was a random attack.”
He said the incident was “fast-moving and extremely traumatic” for everyone at the supermarket.
“The victims who were injured, those present who tried to intervene and those who fled to a place of safety.”
The alleged offender was currently receiving medical attention in Dunedin Hospital.
He is under police guard and is yet to be formally spoken to or charged.
Former notorious prison inmate and armed robber Arthur Taylor said he was going shopping with his girlfriend for supplies for the evening's dinner when he came across the incident.
“Suddenly, police came powering into the supermarket [car park]. Some poor buggers had been stabbed and people were in shock. I started videoing a lot of it in case it was needed.
“They took the guy away covered in blood – it won't be his own blood. Police were all around him. They got there very fast. I saw two brought out in stretchers and then police started putting up tape around the place. Then the ambulances began arriving.
"It brings home how these things affect people. Not just the people hurt but the ripple effects.”
In a Facebook post, a Wellington woman on her first visit to Dunedin described the chilling events that unfolded.
The woman said her family was a few aisles away from the attack, which she believed happened in the pharmacy, when she heard screaming that sounded like it was coming from a child.
"A lady was freaking out telling everyone to run.”
The woman said she ran outside along with everyone else and saw the alleged perpetrator covered in blood.
A security guard who worked at the Countdown store from 2014 to 2018 said she was not surprised the stabbings had happened and said it was not the first time there had been a serious assault at the supermarket.
"Quite frankly I'm afraid it won't be the last."
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had been physically attacked on at least three occasions and that she had had to restrain customers and protect staff several times because of threatening behaviour.
"I've seen young female staff members pushed and spat on as well as verbally abused."
First Union secretary for retail and finance Tali Williams said the union understood two workers were in a critical condition in hospital.
“Staff are understandably shaken and terrified by today’s events.”
She said everyone deserved to go to work and come home safely. "This is a sad and devastating time for workers and their local community."
A local organiser is meeting with members to support them and discuss what they needed.
Williams said it was important workers received the paid time off they needed to recover, whether they were directly involved or not.
Despite the heavy police presence at the scene people are still trying to get into the supermarket, and police have had to turn at least 20 people away since the incident unfolded.
stuff.co.nz
Stabbing in Dunedin: Three people critically injured after supermarket attack
Hamish McNeilly, Sam Sherwood, Nadine Porter and Steven Walton17:23, May 10 2021
7-9 minutes
Five people have been injured, three critically, during a stabbing attack at a Countdown supermarket in Dunedin.
Witnesses heard loud screaming and saw a man brandishing two knives during an attack at a central Dunedin supermarket that has left three people with critical injuries and one with serious injuries.
The incident, which sparked a large armed police response, happened at Countdown in Cumberland St about 2.30pm on Monday.
Two staff members and two customers are among the injured. It is believed a fifth injured person is the alleged offender.
Police have said they believe it was a random attack.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Emergency services were called to a Countdown supermarket in central Dunedin after reports of a stabbing.
The Southern DHB confirmed three patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and one to the general ward. One patient is being treated in the emergency department.
One witness at the supermarket told Stuff: "It just sounded like someone fell over and then screaming got louder and louder.
"We walked past the aisle and we heard someone say, 'he has got a knife', so we just kept moving forward."
Do you know more? Contact [email protected]
Asked what the person looked like, the man said: "Curly hair, quite a messy little fellow."
It is understood a woman received stab wounds to her hands, while another person had to be revived inside the supermarket.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media there was nothing at this stage that suggested it was a domestic terror event.
The Otago Daily Times reported members of the public had pinned down the offender, but he had been able to wrestle his way free before police arrived.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Workers make their way to safety after a suspected stabbing.
A witness told the ODT a man was arrested and was walked to the Dunedin Central Police Station, next door to the supermarket, covered in blood.
RNZ reported a witness saying the attacker was carrying two knives.
A Stuff reporter at the scene said the incident appeared to have unfolded in a pharmacy within the supermarket, where items are strewn across an aisle.
"There are four or five police staff working inside a cordon in that area, including forensics and a photographer."
STUFF
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says at this stage there is no indication the stabbing at a Dunedin supermarket was a "domestic terror event".
Pharmacy workers looked shaken and hugged each other when they emerged from the building soon among Countdown staff soon after the incident, one saying only that it was "scary".
Countdown's managing director Spencer Sonn said the company was "shocked and devastated" by the events.
The company's priority was “our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event”.
“We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured," Sonn said.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Emergency services at a Countdown supermarket in central Dunedin.
"We have been concerned about the escalating violence towards our team, and this is something we have continued to talk and raise as an issue over the last year. Our amazing team comes to work to serve Kiwis every day, and our customers visit our stores knowing that they will be safe.
"We are heartbroken that this wasn’t the case today."
The store would remain closed for at least the next two days, he said.
In a written statement, Southern District Commander Superintendent Paul Basham said police were still working to understand the motivations for the stabbing “however, on the face of what we currently know, we believe this was a random attack.”
He said the incident was “fast-moving and extremely traumatic” for everyone at the supermarket.
“The victims who were injured, those present who tried to intervene and those who fled to a place of safety.”
The alleged offender was currently receiving medical attention in Dunedin Hospital.
He is under police guard and is yet to be formally spoken to or charged.
Former notorious prison inmate and armed robber Arthur Taylor said he was going shopping with his girlfriend for supplies for the evening's dinner when he came across the incident.
“Suddenly, police came powering into the supermarket [car park]. Some poor buggers had been stabbed and people were in shock. I started videoing a lot of it in case it was needed.
“They took the guy away covered in blood – it won't be his own blood. Police were all around him. They got there very fast. I saw two brought out in stretchers and then police started putting up tape around the place. Then the ambulances began arriving.
"It brings home how these things affect people. Not just the people hurt but the ripple effects.”
In a Facebook post, a Wellington woman on her first visit to Dunedin described the chilling events that unfolded.
The woman said her family was a few aisles away from the attack, which she believed happened in the pharmacy, when she heard screaming that sounded like it was coming from a child.
"A lady was freaking out telling everyone to run.”
The woman said she ran outside along with everyone else and saw the alleged perpetrator covered in blood.
A security guard who worked at the Countdown store from 2014 to 2018 said she was not surprised the stabbings had happened and said it was not the first time there had been a serious assault at the supermarket.
"Quite frankly I'm afraid it won't be the last."
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had been physically attacked on at least three occasions and that she had had to restrain customers and protect staff several times because of threatening behaviour.
"I've seen young female staff members pushed and spat on as well as verbally abused."
First Union secretary for retail and finance Tali Williams said the union understood two workers were in a critical condition in hospital.
“Staff are understandably shaken and terrified by today’s events.”
She said everyone deserved to go to work and come home safely. "This is a sad and devastating time for workers and their local community."
A local organiser is meeting with members to support them and discuss what they needed.
Williams said it was important workers received the paid time off they needed to recover, whether they were directly involved or not.
Despite the heavy police presence at the scene people are still trying to get into the supermarket, and police have had to turn at least 20 people away since the incident unfolded.
