Los Angeles police have identified the woman as 68-year-old Patricia McKay.
Two armed men approached McKay and her husband before she was run over by the getaway car. She died at the scene.
US correspondent Katherine Firkin told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that McKay was standing outside a bookstore with her husband when the armed men approached her.
”It appears to be a case of wrong place, wrong time,” Firkin said.
”It was just a shocking, shocking act.”
“I do want to point out Mike, that authorities keep on insisting that these sorts of things don’t happen in places like Newport Beach.”
Sergeant Steve Oberon said in a media update this morning that witnesses reported two men, one armed with a handgun, who attempted to rob McKay and another person while outside Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach.
“During the course of the robbery, one victim was struck by a white sedan that was driven by a third suspect.
“McKay tragically died at the scene.”
Police said the suspects opened fire as they drove away, leading officers on a cross-county pursuit that reached speeds of nearly 180km/h before their arrests.
After exiting a freeway, two more men jumped out of the car and started running around a nearby South Gate neighbourhood.
Officers located and arrested three suspects, including one found hiding behind trash cans in South Gate.
Helicopter footage of the suspects fleeing the scene at Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach California. Photo / KCAL NEWS
Oberon said all three were arrested and were booked on suspicion of homicide, robbery with firearm and conspiracy.
“I’m furious,” Mayor Will O’Neill told local media. “I’m horrified. I’m mourning the loss of someone who died inside of our city because of crime ... This is a tragedy and I’m furious.
“These are thugs and every community is now dealing with this.
“We have to do better as a society because we cannot tolerate this.
“This doesn’t happen in Newport Beach,” he told KCAL-9 News.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the Herald: “We are aware of the reports of the death of a New Zealander in California. Consular officials are seeking further information”.
The Newport Beach Fire Department said first responders found the woman dead in a car park just outside of the shopping centre.
Witnesses described seeing a dead body and a crowd panicked by gunshots.
Newport Police in Southern California arrest a suspect after a New Zealand woman was robbed and fatally run over. Photo / KCAL News
Images on social media show paramedics performing CPR on a person at the scene.
“When I walked up, it was just a dead body laying on the ground,” shopper Rachel West told CBS News.
“All of a sudden 20-30 people came running around the corner screaming, ‘There’s gunshots, there’s gunshots’, and you could tell by the look on their face this wasn’t a drill,” witness Case Burnett said.
A witness posted about the dramatic incident on X.
“Someone was just shot somewhere between the Starbucks and Whole Foods at Fashion Island mall here in Newport Beach, California. Three men in a Camry was trying to rob a woman. A Samaritan came to help her and they shot at him three times. They didn’t hit him.”
Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.
