A shaken father sheltered his daughter as shrapnel flew past them during a dramatic armed incident which ended with a man being shot by police.
Canterbury's frontline police officers will continue to carry firearms on the streets of Christchurch until a wanted man hands himself in or is arrested.
It follows three firearm incidents in Canterbury in a week, all of which were directed at police staff.
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said all frontline officers would carry firearms until the environment officers were working in was no longer "critical".
"As you know, a man was shot earlier this week by police after failing to stop.
"One individual is still sought by police in connection with this armed incident and we are conducting extensive inquiries to locate him. We believe this person may be armed."
Price's decision to arm his officers had the support from Police Commissioner Mike Bush, he said.
"As the Canterbury District Commander I have issued a directive for the routine carriage of firearms for our level one responders, this will apply to the risk environment changes.
"Those officers, they are our public safety team, so cars and uniformed staff. Road policing staff.
Canterbury District Commander John Price said all frontline officers would carry firearms until the environment officers were working in was no longer "critical". Photo / Jason Oxenham
"We believe that the risk posed by this individual is towards police staff rather than the general public. However, public safety is always our priority and we will take the necessary decisions to keep our communities safe."
Until the man handed himself in or was arrested, frontline officers would continue to be armed, he said.
Officers were operating in a high-risk environment and deserved to be safe.
"This decision is in response to a specific situation rather than a general shift in our approach."
Police had been in contact with the man shortly after Tuesday's incident but he had failed to come back to police.
"I appeal to that individual to make contact with the police as soon as possible, I encourage him for his safety, the safety of our community and the safety of our police officers.
"If he fails to come forward then we will probably be looking at naming that individual and providing a photograph to assist us to identify that person's whereabouts."
As soon as the circumstances changed and police believed the risk was no longer present they would revert back to their normal operating model regarding firearms.
"It is our duty to protect all members of our community and we are lucky that no innocent members of the public or police officers were injured during the recent incidents.
"Appropriate advice is given to police staff on a case-by-case basis and this is happening currently," he said.
