Bystanders tackle knife-wielding man

Bystanders who helped tackle a knife-wielding man who went on a rampage inside a Dunedin supermarket yesterday have been hailed as heroes by police.

Three people were critically injured and fighting for their lives in intensive care last night after being repeatedly stabbed during the attack at a Countdown supermarket in the central city yesterday afternoon.

Another person suffered a serious injury, and all four were being treated in Dunedin Hospital. Among the victims were a couple.

Police believed it was a random attack, while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there was nothing to suggest it was a domestic terror event.

Southern District Commander Superintendent Paul Basham said police officers were seeking to establish the identity of the victims and contact their next of kin.

The alleged offender, believed to be a male aged about 40, was also injured and was receiving medical attention in Dunedin Hospital, where he was under police guard.

He was yet to be formally spoken to or charged, though he was expected to be taken to a police station last night and to appear in court today.

Asked what charges the man was likely to face, Basham replied that it was a serious stabbing and at a minimum it was wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

‘‘God forbid that the status of those victims deteriorates overnight, and then we would be looking at something else. But let’s hope that’s not the case.’’

Police were still working to understand the motivations for the stabbing.

However, they believed it was a ‘‘random attack’’, describing it as ‘‘fast-moving and extremely traumatic’’ for everyone at the supermarket.

Emergency services including armed police were scrambled after the incident unfolded at the Countdown supermarket in Cumberland St, not far from the Octagon in the central city, at 2.30pm.

Witnesses described hearing loud screams before seeing a man brandishing two knives.

One witness at the supermarket told Stuff: ‘‘It just sounded like someone fell over and then screaming got louder and louder.

‘‘We walked past the aisle and we heard someone say, ‘he has got a knife’, so we just kept moving forward.’’

It is understood a woman received stab wounds to her hands, while another person had to be revived inside the supermarket.

A Stuff reporter at the scene said the incident appeared to have unfolded in a pharmacy within the supermarket.