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Two witnesses of a stabbing incident at an Auckland dairy say they were terrified the offender would come after them as they watched him stagger out of the shop from a neighbouring property.
Police arrested a 24-year-old man after two people were wounded at the New Windsor Dairy and Lotto shop about 10.30am, with a male victim needing treatment for critical injuries at Auckland City Hospital. Another victim, a woman, was also transported to hospital.
Police this evening said the man was still critical, but both his condition and the other victim’s had since stabilised and they would remain in hospital.
Detective Inspector Glen Baldwin said members of the public who stepped in to stop the assault and tend to the victims may well have saved the man’s life.
“Our advice is for the public to avoid putting themselves in danger, but we absolutely commend their bravery and courage in stepping in to assist this morning,” he said.
“There are some courageous people in our community and their actions may well have saved the man’s life. This was a violent and vicious attack, and support is being offered to everyone involved.”
The offender has been charged and will face multiple counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and resisting police.
One witness, the owner of an adjacent shop, told Stuff one of the victims was stabbed in the neck and cheek. The witness said a woman “begged” the man to take any money, but to spare her.
A 16-year-old and a 15-year-old, as well as a 10-year-old sibling, were watching television at home as the incident unfolded outside their window.
“He came out of the shops and we were scared because we thought he was going to run towards the house,” one of the teens told the Herald.
A person was critically injured at Auckland's New Windsor Dairy. Photo / Hayden Woodward
The children then saw paramedics carry the victim out of the shop on a stretcher. A bloodied woman was also seen being led to a waiting ambulance.
They said the offender was of average height, large build and wearing a grey bloodstained T-shirt.
The victim’s distraught family and friends arrived at the scene shortly after the incident.
One of the victim’s sons ran to his mother in the back of the ambulance.
A Hato Hone St John Ambulance spokesman said they took one person to hospital in critical condition and another in moderate condition shortly after 10.30am.
In an update this afternoon, a police spokesperson said the man and woman’s conditions have “stabilised” and they remain in Auckland City Hospital.
Police cordoned off the block of shops on the corner of Maioro St and New Windsor Rd and would remain at the scene throughout the day.
Police arrested a 24-year-old man after a violent assault at an Auckland dairy this morning. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Detective Inspector Glen Baldwin, of the Auckland City criminal investigation branch, said police were in the early stages of their investigations.
Baldwin commended the bravery of those first on the scene who provided medical assistance that “may well have saved the man’s life”.
“This incident will undoubtedly impact on the victims and those involved for the rest of their lives.”
One police officer at the scene could be heard telling the victim’s son, “I’m so sorry this has happened.”
Dairy and Business Owners’ Group chairman Sunny Kaushal said news of the attack was “heartbreaking”.
“We have already had deaths in our industry, and we were fearing more violence because the Government is failing to take any action. New Zealanders are sick and tired of the lawlessness.”
Prime Minister and Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the attack was “utterly unacceptable”.
“People should be safe in their businesses. I’m going to back the police completely ... and where necessary, we are changing the law to be able to give the police more tools to do that,” Hipkins said.
Police and Justice Minister Ginny Andersen called the attack a “completely abhorrent act of violence”.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their family,” Andersen said. ”This is something that no New Zealander should have to experience.”
National’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell, meanwhile, said blatant crime was “symptomatic of a very permissive environment created by this government”.
“Unfortunately our shopkeepers and their employees are bearing the brunt of that. I’ve been doing public meetings up and down the country now for three or four months and I think most people understand our country is a lot less safe than it was six years ago,” he said.
“My heart and thoughts go out to the victims and their families,” he said.
Act’s justice spokesperson Nicole McKee said workers on the frontline are facing an increasingly violent New Zealand.
“It’s time to take an approach that puts victims first, so New Zealand’s shopkeepers, taxi and bus drivers, security guards, small retailers and other front-line workers can operate without fear,” she said.
“The frequency and intensity of retail crime is on the rise. We see shocking images of workers being assaulted in the media every day. Dairy owners and other small retailers are now putting themselves inside cages so criminals can’t get behind the counter. There is no place for this kind of senseless violence in New Zealand, the law needs to reflect this.
“It’s time we sent a message to New Zealand that crime will be punished, that criminals can’t get away with committing senseless violent acts on people trying to earn a living, and that victims are at the heart of the justice system.”
McKee said New Zealand needs to stop the senseless violence or entire communities will feel the consequences.
“When businesses decide it is too dangerous to keep their doors open at night, or a taxi driver avoids certain routes, or bus drivers quit because the level of abuse isn’t worth it, everyone is worse off.
“For small businesses, their workplace is like a second home. New Zealanders deserve to feel safe at their place of work, just as they should feel safe in their home.”
Shopkeeper Shashikant Prema was taken to Auckland City Hospital with stab wounds to his neck and back.
The attack left Prema with a punctured lung and nerve damage in his left arm.
He spoke to the Herald from his hospital bed, saying he thought he would have died had he not run out of the shop after being slashed from across the counter.
“I’m pretty lucky to be alive,” he said at the time.
The father of three said, “At the end of the day, you just carry on - that’s our work, that’s our business.”
His wife, Damyanti Prema, who had been robbed at gunpoint in the past, said she initially wondered whether it was worth keeping the business after the attack in 2008.
But, like her husband, she said she would not let anyone victimise her again by selling up or living in fear.
“You are in fear, but you have to get over it,” she said at the time.
Police will stay on the scene this afternoon and there will be an increased police presence in New Windsor in the coming day to reassure the community going forward.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
