Police responding to an emergency incident near Auckland Girls' Grammar School. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Armed police were scrambled to an emergency incident in central Auckland that left one person with serious injuries and Auckland Girls’ Grammar in lockdown on Thursday afternoon.
Police have confirmed a person was stabbed and a manhunt is underway.
One witness told the Herald a gang member tried to rob a woman, who then stabbed him.
Another witness said they heard someone yelling “he/she took my phone” and saw a person lying on the footpath being treated by ambulance officers.
A police spokesperson said emergency services responded to an assault on Howe St in Freemans Bay on Thursday afternoon.
“The assault, involving two people, was reported to police at 3.24pm.
“One person suffered an injury that was consistent with a stab wound and was transported to hospital in a serious but not life-threatening condition.”
The offender got into a nearby vehicle and drove from the scene, police said.
“We are working to locate the vehicle, and to identify the offender.”
The school posted on its Facebook account, saying: “Auckland Girls’ Grammar School has gone into lockdown because of incident near the school.
“We will continue to provide updates on our website as often as possible.
“Please do not come to the school or phone the school as you will not be attended to, and this may cause disruption to the management of this incident and could potentially place yourselves and/or our staff and students' safety at risk.”
In a subsequent post, the school said the lockdown had ended.
“We have come out of lockdown and all students, staff and persons on-site are safely accounted for.
“Everyone did extremely well and responded to instructions. A notice will be going out to parents/caregivers tonight to provide some more information on what has occurred today.”
A nearby early childcare centre was also in lockdown.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said they were notified of an assault incident at 3.25pm on Howe St, Freemans Bay, responding with one ambulance, one rapid response vehicle and one operations manager.
“One patient has been transported to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition.”
An early childcare centre staff member told the Herald it went into lockdown after staff saw armed police next door near Auckland Girls’ Grammar.
“We assumed they were searching for someone.”
The staff member said they went into lockdown for about 20 minutes.
“It’s our lockdown procedure when armed police turn up to protect our staff and children,” she said.
“About four police cars were pulling up and some armed police came out of the car.”
Ministry of Education northern leader Isabel Evans said Auckland Girls’ Grammar went into lockdown about 3.30pm at the request of police, who were responding to an incident in the surrounding area.
“The school would have immediately stood up their emergency management procedures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students and staff.
“We understand the lockdown was lifted around 4pm.”
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