Knife-wielding robber threatens guards loading campus ATM

Senior Sergeant Tony Lindsay examines the scene at the Massey University campus in Albany. yesterday. Picture / Martin Sykes

Two security guards were threatened and pushed to the ground by a knife-wielding robber at Massey University's Albany Campus yesterday.

The Armourguard employees had arrived to load cash into a National Bank ATM near the gym when they were approached at 8.10am.

The robber, wearing a balaclava, brandished a large knife and threatened the male guards, said police.

Detective Sergeant Kim Libby, head of the North Shore criminal investigation branch, said the guards were pushed to the ground and the robber took several cash canisters.

Police will not say how much money was taken.

The guards were shaken by the experience but not injured. They were offered victim support and interviewed before going home.

Mr Libby said there were few witnesses to the crime and police did not have any substantial leads.

The robber had a Pacific Island accent and was of solid build, he said.

The man fled to a waiting vehicle, a brown-coloured four-door saloon, with an accomplice behind the wheel.

"It was certainly well planned and organised, and it's likely the offenders have cased the campus over a period of recent weeks, as they knew exactly what they were doing," said Mr Libby.

Police wanted to hear from anyone who had noticed people acting suspiciously around the time security vans carried out deliveries at the campus.

Lectures started at 8am but the majority of students arrived for classes from 9am onwards, said Mr Libby.

Police were speaking to students but also wanted to hear from motorists who noticed the brown car leaving the campus, located off the Albany Expressway, at speed yesterday morning.