Shoppers rush to leave the mall. Photo / via video
Shoppers rush to leave the mall. Photo / via video
Warning: This article contains a video that some people may find distressing.
Chilling video has captured the moment when a sound resembling gunfire rings out in a West Auckland supermarket after an attack that left the offender dead and three people fighting for their lives.
Six people have been injured - three critically - in the incident. They include people attacked in the supermarket. Their assailant - a Sri Lankan terrorist and known Isis sympathiser - was fatally gunned down by police who were monitoring him.
In the video a person can be seen lying motionless on the ground in the video as the woman filming says: "Oh no, look at what has happened."
Then more than seven rapid bangs can be heard as shoppers immediately start scrambling to safety.
A 34-year-old local man witnessed the beginning of the attack in Lynnmall Countdown, which he said occurred about 2.40pm today.
"I was buying stuff and walking toward the milk aisle, and then suddenly I heard a person shouting loudly 'Allahu Akbar' and running," he said. "There was this lady in front of me and he jumped on her."
The force of the attack knocked the woman and attacker off balance, the witness said.
The attacker sprang back up, but the witness was behind him and couldn't see his face.
"He had a knife, a pretty big knife - like I would say the size of his arm. It was very scary. It was like a mini sword."
A brave bystander at the mall helped a wounded woman who had been stabbed on her right hip.
Police escort wounded and witnesses out of the Countdown supermarket in New Lynn Mall. Photo / Alex Burton
The witness wrapped the woman's jumper around the injury - and still had the woman's blood on her when she spoke to the Herald.
She said the woman had run out of the mall screaming: "He's got a knife".
As people scrambled to evacuate, others yelled: "He's got a gun" and the injured woman got up and fled the scene.
Auckland City Hospital has multiple operating theatres running to treat the injured who have suffered chest and neck wounds. Two major abdominal cavity surgeries are under way, the Herald has been told.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster are set to address the media on the attack at 5.15pm.
Frantic shoppers who were fleeing Countdown were kept safe inside a neighbouring pharmacy.
A staff member at the Unichem Pharmacy, about 40m from Countdown, said about 20 people rushed into the store. They locked the door to keep them - and about 45 people inside the pharmacy being vaccinated at the time - safe.
A man has been fatally shot by police officers and shoppers are understood to have suffered life-threatening injuries at a West Auckland supermarket this afternoon. Photo / Alex Burton
"It wasn't a nice scenario. Everyone was pretty shocked and worried, but everybody is fine."
Staff at Unichem are now shifting vaccination appointments to another site to ensure those impacted can still get the jab.
"That's very important too," said the staffer.
Police confirmed that a man entered a New Lynn supermarket and injured multiple people. They confirmed the man has been located and shot. He has died at the scene.
Witnesses describe chaos
A witness, who didn't want to be named, said they saw two people stabbed - a possibly middle-aged Pākehā woman and an older man.
Moments later, the suspected perpetrator was shot by what looked like two undercover officers and fell to the ground.
The witness said customers then rushed to shelter in the aisles.
A third ambulance arrived at the scene shortly after 3.30pm with ambulance officers wearing gowns.
POLICE INCIDENT — 3:05PM Due to a police incident, Great North Rd in New Lynn is now CLOSED between Veronica St and Memorial Dr - further cordons are likely in this area. Follow directions of emergency services on-site and avoid the area if possible. ^MF pic.twitter.com/DWKSsQT0z8
— Auckland Transport Travel Alerts (@AT_TravelAlerts) September 3, 2021
At least 10 police vehicles had gathered around the mall's entry, with reports of the police Eagle helicopter in the area. Several roads have been blocked off.
Terrified workers hide in mall
A pharmacy worker at Lynn Mall says they are barricaded in the pharmacy, according to RNZ.
The pharmacy is located at the other end of the mall to Countdown, so staff did not witness the incident but a customer reported cars rushing out of the mall's car park.
A bus can be seen parked in the middle of Great North Rd near the Lynn Mall entry.
An RNZ journalist at the scene spoke to George Francisco, who was outside the mall when he got a panicked call from his wife, who works at a pharmacy inside.
She told him she saw a woman running through the mall, saying she had been stabbed.
His wife then heard five gunshots.
She told him that a "number of people" were wounded.
Countdown 'devastated'
A Countdown spokeswoman said the company was "devastated by what's taken place in our Lynn Mall store today".
"Once again, our hearts are heavy knowing what our team and customers have witnessed and been through. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and their families, and we will be supporting all of our Lynn Mall team."
Shortly after they can be seen in the video carrying the woman off the bus. She is still conscious as they lay her onto a stretcher.
Mosque blocked off by police
Meanwhile, police have cordoned off the mosque on Waikaukau Rd, Glen Eden in connection to the incident.
A patrol car has blocked access and two police officers, one armed with a rifle, are stopping pedestrians and vehicles trying to enter or exit the street.
A man who says he is one of the mosque leaders is trying to enter the cordon.
Police to shoppers: 'Get out immediately'
An Auckland woman on the verge of entering the mall has described the chaos and traffic jams that followed as panicked shoppers fled the shopping centre.
The woman, who was in the carpark preparing to go into the supermarket, said she was stopped by police officers who ran up to her car and told her to "Get out immediately" because there had been a shooting.
