Somali man goes on rampage in NZ

[Archdemos]

 

 

An ordinary weekday morning in suburban Christchurch became a scene of violence and bloodshed as a knife-wielding man went on a rampage before being shot by police.

 

Two people were stabbed – a delivery driver, who was taken hostage by the man in her truck yesterday morning, and a Christchurch City Council worker, who was in a serious but stable condition in Christchurch Hospital last night.

 

The food delivery driver, Marteine Robin, 36, was last night recovering at home after a stab wound in her shoulder was stitched.

 

The attacker's 90-minute path of violence across the city was ended by two gunshots as he continued to approach police in Hoon Hay, where he had confronted morning commuters and stabbed the council worker.

 

The man, 27, originally from Somalia, had surgery for gunshot wounds to his wrist and shoulder and was under police guard in hospital last night.

 

He has yet to be charged.

 

Among passers-by who played a crucial role in preventing more casualties was a construction worker, who fought the man with a crowbar, while a woman and a cyclist helped the stabbed council worker into a car and staunched the flow of blood.

 

The drama started at Redwood School in northern Christchurch about 6.30am when the school caretaker was threatened with a knife after finding a man on the school grounds.

 

Police said the caretaker and a teacher locked themselves in a classroom, and the man tried to gain entry.

 

The man fled the scene, kidnapping Robin, an employee of Goodtime Foods, who was delivering pies to the school.

 

She was forced to drive towards Halswell, but the van stopped in morning commuter traffic at the corner of Hoon Hay Rd and Halswell Rd about 8am.

 

She was stabbed by the man in the shoulder before escaping from the truck, with the man following.

 

Witnesses described a chaotic scene as a bleeding Robin screamed for help, while the man aggressively confronted other motorists in the line of traffic at the busy intersection.

 

The city council worker, in his 50s, who has not been identified at his family's request, was in a council car on the way to an appointment when he was stabbed repeatedly.

 

The council car crashed into a concrete wall before the attacker got out, still armed, witnesses said.

 

Construction worker Jade Lynn, 22, who was driving to work, saw the man approaching with a "big meat cleaver and small skeleton knife" and grabbed a crowbar from his truck. The pair fought, and Lynn hit him across the neck, but the man "kept coming" before police arrived.

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Witness Bruce Cameron did not understand what was happening until he saw a woman covered in blood screaming.

 

Cameron, 60, was in Hoon Hay Rd waiting for a lift from a friend when he saw a truck pull over suddenly.

 

"I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary until I saw a woman get out and she had blood all over her," he said.

 

"A guy got out too and started running up the road. He had these two knives.

 

"I had no idea what was going on.

 

"There was another man bleeding and people were screaming."

 

He saw a Christchurch City Council car crash into a fence and thought the driver may have had a heart attack. "But then I saw him get out of the car covered in blood."

 

Cameron saw Lynn jump out of a truck with a crowbar.

 

"The guy with the knives was going crazy, then this guy from an Armitage truck got out with a crowbar," he said.

 

"He was trying to fend the man off and keep him away from the woman by the looks of things.

 

"It was lucky the cops turned up because it could have been worse.

 

"The police used pepper spray, they Tasered him, but nothing, and then they shot him twice."

 

A Halswell Rd resident, who did not want to give his name, said he saw an unconscious, bleeding man, believed to be the council worker, being helped into a car by two people.

 

He said a woman in a car and a passing cyclist stopped to help the man. "He was bleeding profusely and they were trying to stop the flow of blood. They got him up and sat him in the front seat of the car."

 

He said there was "a lot of congealed blood on the pavement" after the injured man was taken away in an ambulance.

 

Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff said that when police arrived they repeatedly asked the man to drop the knives.

 

" Officers Tasered the man and deployed pepper spray but this was not successful in stopping the man," he said.

 

After the man rushed at police with the knife, officers armed with a Glock pistol fired two shots, hitting the man in the arm and shoulder, he said.

 

Police said they had spoken to the man's mother. He had a "large family" who lived in Christchurch, and had done for several years. Police ethnic liaison officers and refugee services met the Somali community yesterday afternoon.

 

Mayor Bob Parker said the council was "shocked and saddened" by the attack on their staff member.

 

"It appears that the staff member was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

 

Parker said the man had worked at the council for decades.

 

Council staff had spoken to the family and would provide support where possible.

 

Police Commissioner Peter Marshall commended the actions of Christchurch officers.

 

"[Yesterday's] actions exemplify the spirit of New Zealand police,"he said.

 

"It seems clear to me, on the information received so far, that the actions of the police officers in an extremely volatile and dangerous situation are to be absolutely admired.

 

"They ended the situation in an entirely appropriate manner."

 

POLICE CHIEF PRAISES OFFICERS' QUICK ACTIONS IN EMERGENCY

 

A policeman who shot a knife-wielding man on a Christchurch street has been praised for his speed and courage.

 

The experienced officer, who had firearms training a few weeks ago, yesterday ended an armed standoff in Halswell by firing two shots into the wrist and shoulder of a 27-year-old man believed to have kidnapped a woman and stabbed two people.

 

Attempts to pepper-spray and taser the man failed, and he was shot after rushing at police with a knife.

 

Assistant Commissioner Dave Cliff praised the quick actions of the police involved.

 

"These are exactly the scenarios we train for. You've got to understand these [situations]; move really quickly. You're dealing with a volatile situation and when someone's armed with a weapon, you've got to act and respond very quickly, which our staff clearly did," he said.

 

"We're talking about just after 8am. It's commuter traffic. There were a lot of vehicles and people around at the scene. None of us, when we're driving to work with our families, will expect to be confronted by the situation those members of the public and our officers were confronted with."

 

The officer has been given time off and the Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating. He will be interviewed today and welfare services have been made available to those involved.

 

Cliff said he had "no concerns" about the officers' actions. "They worked with great speed and with courage, and I certainly have huge respect for what they did in taking some very difficult action in the most demanding of circumstances."

 

Police were able to react quickly because they were close to the scene and had "all the options" available to them, Cliff said.

 

"They had pepper spray, they had Taser, they had firearms. I guess it really affirms the decision by the [police] commissioner to make sure that firearms are more readily available to our staff within vehicles.

 

"The staff had all the tools available and used every option before they were forced into the position of having to use a firearm."

 

Pepper spray and Tasers were "not always effective", Cliff said.

 

He also praised the "spectacularly good" action taken by members of the public.

 

"It's been a really great example of members of the public seeing something happen and being prepared to do something about it, as well as those who contacted police and sought our help," he said.

 

SHOCKED STUDENTS COUNSELLED

 

Several schoolchildren are receiving counselling after witnessing the violence in Hoon Hay on their way to school.

 

The Ministry of Education traumatic incidents team is co-ordinating counselling for about 10 Christchurch pupils, and some pupils are receiving help from school counsellors.

 

The ministry team visited Manning Intermediate School, Spreydon School and Redwood School yesterday.

 

A ministry spokesman said the team worked with schools to help them manage the impact of a traumatic incident.

 

Support that may be provided covered a range of areas such as helping allay fears, supporting communication and restoring day-to-day routines.

 

Manning Intermediate principal Richard Chambers went on to Hoon Hay Rd after hearing sirens.

 

He spoke to a police officer, who told him about the stabbing and subsequent shooting.

 

Chambers organised staff to go out to Hoon Hay Rd. They joined staff from Hillmorton High School to help direct pupils and give information to parents.

 

Some pupils who were trying to get further down the road to Spreydon School, in Halswell Rd, had to wait at Manning Intermediate until police said it was safe to continue.

 

Police called all the nearby schools to inform them about the incident.

 

"At no stage were any of our students at risk, but some may have seen or heard things that are disturbing," Chambers said.

 

He called the ministry's traumatic incidents team, which visited the school and helped co-ordinate counselling for at least six pupils.

 

Spreydon School principal Rick Wardrop said the ministry team had visited the school, and the incident was discussed at morning assembly.

[Nin-Yaaban]

90 minute rampage and u didnt' kill anyone? Pathetic. Get a gun a next time.

[N.O.R.F]

Glad no one was serious injured. Reminds me of Michael Douglas in Falling Down.

[Nin-Yaaban]

N.O.R.F;804362 wrote:

Glad no one was serious injured. Reminds me of Michael Douglas in Falling Down.

You just don't wanna push a man that far... Favorite scene.

 

 

 

[Narniah]

Don't judge this Man, he was once a sane very educated young man and comes from a very good family. He became mentally ill a couple of years ago.

 

Make dua for him inu ilahay cafiyo ameen. May Allah never make us lose our minds ameen.

 

It can happen to any of us.

[Bluelicious]

^^ Ameen

 

"The police used pepper spray, they Tasered him, but nothing, and then they shot him twice."

 

Was he a devils child nothing could stop him just joking.

 

I agree with Narniah though when someone loses his sanity and act mental, it's not really them something else takes over their brains like subtance abuse or a trauma and thus they lose control over themselfs. It's wrong to judge those people just because you still have your sanity it can happen to anybody.

[Abwaan]

Nin-Yaaban;804361 wrote:

90 minute rampage and u didnt' kill anyone? Pathetic. Get a gun a next time.

Are you promoting violence now?