Bond said the 13-year-old and 16-year-old were known to each other.
The younger boy approached the 16-year-old and the pair had a conversation, during which a “small pocket knife” was produced.
“It’s been pulled out to show and look at, rather than [in] a threatening manner,” Bond said.
The 13-year-old took the knife and walked away to get on his bus but the 16-year-old followed the boy to retrieve their property and a confrontation occurred.
“The end of the footage shows the 13-year-old leaving and smiling, and he shook the hands of the other party,” said Bond.
“It’s a case of what’s said on social media is different to what’s been recorded on footage.”
Bond said the mother would be invited to the station to review the footage.
“If we’re called at the time, that enables us to speak to as many witnesses as possible, which will give us a clearer picture of events. If we’re called days, weeks afterward, it makes it harder to get a full picture of what’s happened,” he said.
“Our message is obviously we do the investigations, and it’s the usual story about what you see on social media may not necessarily represent the truth that’s happened.
“There’s always two sides to each story, that’s what we’re trying to achieve through our investigation.”
Crime and safety at the Dunedin bus hub have increasingly been an issue in recent months.
On May 13, a 16-year-old Trinity Catholic College pupil, Enere John Jnr Poepoe McLaren-Taana, died from a single stab wound at the bus hub.
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist for the NZ Herald, based in Dunedin
