Man shot dead by police, six injured, after terror attack at Auckland's LynnMall Countdown
George Block and Torika Tokalau17:43, Sep 03 2021
A witness of West Auckland's LynnMall Countdown attack captured multiple gunshots on camera.
Dramatic video has captured the moment police fired multiple gunshots in a West Auckland supermarket - killing an attacker who injured six people with a knife in an “extremist” terror attack.
The video shows a man lying on the ground inside Countdown in LynnMall, New Lynn, blood on the floor and shoppers in panic, on Friday afternoon.
Moments later a volley of shots rings out - seemingly the moment police took down the man.
Six patients have been taken to hospitals across Auckland. Three are in a critical condition, one is in a serious condition and two are in a moderate condition.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Police outside Countdown at Lynn Mall, where a man has been shot dead by police.
In a press conference alongside Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the attacker was extremist terror sympathiser who had been known to authorities since 2016.
He was under heavy surveillance by specialist tactical officers due to his extremist views, and it was them who shot him dead.
Those officers had followed the man from his Glen Eden home to the supermarket in New Lynn. Once inside, he got hold of a knife and approached officers who later shot him.
Ardern said the man, a Sri Lankan national who came to New Zealand in October 2011, had previously before the courts.
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Shopper Tim says he saw two people who had been stabbed lying injured on the supermarket floor.
She said the law meant he could not be kept in prison, but he was being monitored “constantly”. Suppression orders meant she could not share further details at this stage, but she was seeking further guidance from the courts on that.
Ardern said she was “absolutely gutted” to hear news of the attack.
Coster said the man was acting alone, and police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack.
Tim, who did not want his last name used, said he saw an elderly man lying on the ground with a stab wound to his abdomen. Another victim, a middle-aged woman, was stabbed in the shoulder, he said.
As he left the store with other panicked shoppers, several police rushed in, some plain clothes, he said.
He said: “[People were] running out, hysterically, just screaming, yelling, scared.”
“The police came just before I was going to try and find the fulla.”
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Armed police remain outside Lynn Mall in New Lynn, where a man was shot dead by police after several people were stabbed.
Michelle Miller was doing her afternoon shop when she saw the nightmarish scenes unfold.
The offender was “running around like a lunatic” she said. “He was attacking people. All I heard was a lot of screaming.”
She fled the supermarket as police rushed in.
Miller said she heard police ordering the man to give himself up and get on the ground, and said there was a considerable delay before she heard shots fired.
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Emergency services rush to an incident at Auckland's LynnMall, where a man was shot dead after injuring multiple others.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Chemist Warehouse staff are lead away from LynnMall. They had been advised by police to stay at the back of the shop while multiple people were injured.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Emergency services respond to incident at a mall in New Lynn.
She was full of praise for the officers involved: “I take my hat off to the police.”
Miller walked back to her car in a state of shock. Her thoughts and prayers were with the families of those injured. “My heart goes out to their families.”
Brittany Denyer was about to park up to enter to the Countdown when police officers ran up to her and told her to “hurry up and evacuate immediately”.
She said: “People were panicking, and it was a gridlock trying to get out of New Lynn. Police and ambulances [were] everywhere. I was told by another police officer while I was waiting to be diverted that someone had been stabbed.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Videos posted on social media showed shoppers fleeing the mall in West Auckland.
“Police cars kept arriving and people were running away from the mall trying to get out of the area. I am very thankful I didn’t arrive five minutes earlier as I would’ve been inside. It would have been so scary for anyone inside the mall.”
Stuff understands one of the victims fled onto a bus at the adjacent bus station, and waited there until police and ambulance arrived.
Kiri Hannifin, General Manager Safety at Countdown said the company was devastated by what had happened and “our hearts are heavy” knowing what staff and customers had witnessed and been through.
“Our thoughts are with those who were injured and their families, and we will be supporting all of our LynnMall team.
”Over the last few weeks especially, Kiwis have shown our team such gratitude and kindness and we are particularly devastated that something like this has happened again in one of our stores.
“It’s difficult to comprehend and the events of today leave our whole team in deep shock.”
A spokesman from Kiwi Property, which owns Lynn Mall, said it had been advised of an incident at the Countdown on Friday afternoon. No mall staff were injured.
“The matter is now in the hands of the police, and we'll continue to provide them with our full assistance,” he said.
RICKY WILSON/Stuff
Ambulances and police rushed to the scene of the stabbing at Lynn Mall, New Lynn, on Friday.
Great North Rd in New Lynn has been cordoned off, with a tweet from Auckland Transport stating more cordons were likely.
St John spokeswoman Dani Tucker said it was alerted at 2.40pm.
“Five ambulances, three rapid response unit and four managers have responded to the scene,” she said.
Police said the incident was still unfolding, and they would provide further information when they could.
