Police seeking armed person in West Auckland

Auckland police have been dealing with an increase in armed crime over the past year. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Police are seeking a person who pointed a firearm at two people in West Auckland this afternoon.

Officers were alerted to the incident on Seymour Rd just after midday.

There are no reports of any injuries and investigations are ongoing to try to locate the offender.

Police said they arrested two people at Glenmall in West Auckland this afternoon, saying the incident was not connected to Seymour Rd.

Stuff reported the two arrests were made at gunpoint by armed officers.

Last month the Herald revealed police have seized more than 600 firearms across Auckland in less than a year, including 20 military-style semi-automatics that are now banned.

New figures released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show an escalation in gun violence has left at least 23 people injured and seven dead since December 2018.

But the figures don't include two recent shooting at a Favona house where 57-year-old grandmother Meliame Fisi'ihoi was gunned down nearly a fortnight ago in what is believed to be a case of mistaken identity.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is blaming drug trafficking and organised crime for the spike in violence.

The Police Association says the statistics paint a worrying picture about the sheer volume of firearms now circulating in the criminal underworld.

"That's pretty scary," association president Chris Cahill told the Herald.

"That demonstrates why you get a large number of police officers saying they feel they need to be generally armed. Also, you can understand why police are trialling armed response teams."