Violent Armed Robbery In North Shore, Auckland

View Larger Map, Westfield Mall from Anzac Street

From an article in the NZ Herald newspaper, 18 Sept 09:

"A gunman punched a woman in the throat during a "brutal, callous and brazenly opportunist" armed robbery of an Auckland hair salon, police said today.
A man with a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun walked into the Rodney Wayne Hairdressing salon in the Westfield Shore City shopping mall in Takapuna, on the North Shore, at 8.15pm yesterday.
There were nine staff and seven clients on the premises at the time.
The offender pointed the shotgun at the receptionist and punched her in the throat, before pointing the weapon at the head of a second female staff member.
He then went to the centre of the salon and held the gun to the shoulder of the manager, demanding cash.
After taking a small amount of money, the offender ran out on to Anzac Street."

It's a deeply shocking and brutal crime and our thoughts are with staff of the hair salon right now, we're hoping the offender is caught and charged within the next day or so.

There has been an alarming rise in the number and frequency of armed and violent robberies in New Zealand, a country often portrayed as "safe" and with a low crime rate. The facts suggest exactly the opposite. Please see the "Armed robberies" and "Stats" links at the head of this page.