Police Have Shot Armed Gunman Outside McDonalds In Upper Hutt

Police have shot dead a man in Upper Hutt, according to a witness.

Police are in a briefing and are yet to comment, but a spokesperson tweeted: "There has been an incident involving firearms in Upper Hutt involving one male. Further details will be released as soon as available."

Deborah Hawkins, who works in a nearby business, said she heard three shots fired.

A policeman told her a man had fired a shot and killed a police dog, and that he was shot by officers and taken away in an ambulance.

"There was a gunman on the loose and we heard shots being fired.

"The police shot him and was he was taken off in an ambulance at about 1.40pm.

"A police dog was shot. We only heard the three shots but apparently he fired off a few times."

She heard the first shot about 12.45pm, she said.

"And then about 20 minutes after that we heard about two more shots.

"We could see the police outside our window with guns running up down the street."

The street was cordoned off, she said.

Another witness said that about midday a man was arguing with police in the street. He appeared intimidating, the witness said.

He was talking to police for around 45 minutes. The witness said police then shot him.
Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said he had spoken to police who told him no members of the public or police had been harmed in the incident.

"I believe the gunman was [shot]," Mr Guppy said.

He said police had advised him there would be ongoing disruption in the area.

The incident unfolded outside the McDonald's restaurant on the corner of Main St and Fergusson Drive.

McDonald's spokeswoman Kim Bartlett said the store was "now officially a crime scene".

She would not confirm whether a person had been shot or whether shots had been fired in the store.

"All our staff are safe and no customers have been hurt," she said.

"That's really all I can say. You will need to speak to the police about that."

Witnesses said they had seen a man walking down the street with a rifle. They heard what sounded like gunshots and saw the man running away.

One witness, Paddy, was driving near the mall when armed police came running up to the car and told him to get away.

"They were everywhere, dog handlers, lots of cops with guns, all the little side streets were shut down. We were trying to get over the Rimutakas and there were police coming from that way."

An employee of a nearby business said he had been told by police to stay inside.

Local business owner Rhy Pasley said he saw the armed offenders squad and a number of police cars pass through the CBD towards McDonald's. He had heard from others in the community that the gunman had been shot with a rubber bullet.

A member of a citizen-run emergency services Facbeook page said they were at the Upper Hutt police station when the 111 call came in.

They said officers said "someone's been shot" as they ran out the door. The person heard the gunman had also been shot.

A woman has tweeted about her son filming the action.

"Holy sh*t my son... got some footage on his phone of the take down. Scary sh*t," she said.

Nearby St Joseph's school said it went into lockdown briefly but was told about 1.35pm that the situation was safe. A spokesman said it was lunchtime when the alarm was raised so bells rang and the children went briefly back into their classrooms.

- Additional reporting from Newstalk ZB staff

- NZ Herald

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