A man who was at the Countdown supermarket in New Zealand’s South Island city of Dunedin when four people were stabbed has described the incident as terrifying.
The attack happened at the Cumberland Street supermarket just before 2.30pm yesterday.
Police said three of the people injured in the stabbing were in a serious but stable condition in hospital after undergoing surgery, while a fourth person was in a moderate condition.
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Countdown general manager of corporate affairs Kiri Hannafin said the two injured staff members were now stable in intensive care units.
The suspect received treatment in hospital for a minor injury and was under police guard.
Customers and staff in the store disarmed and detained the attacker before police arrived.
An eyewitness to the attack, who asked not to be named, said he could not believe such a thing would happen in Dunedin.
‘I heard screaming’
“I heard screaming. At first I just ignored it, I thought it was just kids playing around,” he said.
“Then I heard these shelves falling down. Then we saw this woman, she was walking.
“Blood, full of blood on her face. I think she was stabbed on her forehead or something,” he said.
Not knowing what to do in the moment, he sheltered in a back room for safety.
“We wanted to help this woman who was bleeding, but at the same time we were really terrified and scared. And this man, I think he ran away and he stabbed another two or three people.
“Then I saw around five or six people on the floor, I saw just blood everywhere,” he said.
Police yesterday said the investigation was still in its early stages and they believed it was a random attack.
Compiling witness information
Police are working to compile witness information and collect CCTV footage.
Forensic investigators were back at the Cumberland Street supermarket today and it will remain closed.
People with information, including video footage, were encouraged to contact police on 105 and quote event number P046456846.
Police said three of the people injured in the stabbing were in a serious but stable condition in hospital after undergoing surgery, while a fourth person was in a moderate condition.
A 42-year-old man has been charged with four counts of attempted murder following the stabbing.
He was due to appear in court today.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
