Attack not gang war, say police

Lower Hutt police hunting a group of men who stabbed and bashed a Mongrel Mob member in the foyer of a local swimming pool, have assured the public the attack was not part of a gang war.

The 25-year-old victim was in a stable condition in Hutt Hospital yesterday after being hit with a baseball bat and stabbed three times by three or four men about 4pm on Saturday.

Witnesses reported seeing the men, believed to be Black Power members, get out of a black 4WD vehicle outside the Naenae Swimming Pool.

Detective Senior Sergeant Soni Malaulau, of Lower Hutt CIB, described the attack as a "spur of the moment" incident. "We don't want to cause too much alarm. This is not a gang war or anything like that."

- NZPA