Hair salon robbery 'callous', say police

A gunman punched a woman in the throat during a "brutal, callous and brazenly opportunist" armed robbery of an Auckland hair salon, police said today.

A man with a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun walked into the Rodney Wayne Hairdressing salon in the Westfield Shore City shopping mall in Takapuna, on the North Shore, at 8.15pm yesterday.

There were nine staff and seven clients on the premises at the time.

The offender pointed the shotgun at the receptionist and punched her in the throat, before pointing the weapon at the head of a second female staff member.

He then went to the centre of the salon and held the gun to the shoulder of the manager, demanding cash.

After taking a small amount of money, the offender ran out on to Anzac Street.

Police said the offender was agitated and unstable during the robbery, which lasted about 1-1/2 minutes.

With so many people in the salon, there was real potential for further violence and injury.

The offender was described as a 1.66m-tall Polynesian or Maori in his mid-20s.

He was of medium build, had brown eyes and smelled of body odour.

He was wearing a fluorescent green scarf that covered his face, a knee-length brown/grey jacket, light blue baggy jeans and possibly gloves.

He was carrying a 30cm-square fluorescent pink cloth bag with two handles.

An inquiry team was today conducting a scene examination and interviewing witnesses.

Police said they wanted to hear from anyone who was near the Anzac St entrance to the salon before 8.15am.

- NZPA