Several injured in horror stabbing spree at NZ supermarket

Update: Fronting the media Monday afternoon, Southern District Police Commander Superintendent Paul Basham confirmed four people were stabbed, with three going into surgery this afternoon. He said the police believe this was a random attack.

“This was a fast-moving and extremely traumatic event for every person in that supermarket — the victims who were injured, those present who tried to intervene and those who had to flee to a place of safety,” Basham said.

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Four people have been rushed to hospital following a stabbing spree at a busy New Zealand supermarket, 1news reports.

Reports from New Zealand media say shoppers at Countdown (the New Zealand equivalent to Woolworths) in Dudedin on NZ’s South Island heard screams and saw a man with two knives attacking people in the store.

New Zealand Police confirmed the attack occurred at about 2.30pm (local time), saying several people have been injured. One person has since been taken into police custody.

Police are responding to an incident in central Dunedin.

It occurred on Cumberland St at about 2.30pm.

Initial information suggests several people have been injured.

One person has been taken into custody.

Further information will be released when available.

— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) May 10, 2021

A Countdown spokesperson Kiri Hannafin told 1news two of the four victims were Countdown employees, and three of those are in a critical condition, with the other suffering serious injuries. She said there were very few details at this stage.

“We are shocked and devastated by the events in our Dunedin Central Store this afternoon,” Countdown said in a statement shared on their Facebook page.

“Our priority right now is our injured team members and caring for our wider team in the wake of this extremely traumatic event. We are deeply upset that customers who tried to help our team members were also injured.”