Man surrenders after assault leaves two injured at sports complex near Sikh temple
Photo:
Google Maps
A man has turned himself into police Monday after two people were injured in an assault at a sports complex located next to a Sikh temple in South Auckland over the weekend.
Police said the attacker had entered the sports complex next to Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib and approached a man known to him about 5pm on Sunday.
"He has begun to assault the man, before bystanders have intervened to stop the offending," Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Taylor said.
The victim and a second person both suffered minor injuries during the assault. Both received treatment at a local medical centre.
Security removed the man, and he was seen getting into a vehicle before police arrived on scene, Taylor said.
Taylor said the assault was not believed to be a hate-motivated crime.
"We acknowledge that this incident was confronting for those who were present at the temple at the time," Taylor said.
"However, we have established that this incident occurred as a result of a dispute between two parties known to each other."
Police had conducted "reassurance patrols" around the temple due to the assault, Taylor said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
5 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Two Black Power members guilty of murdering Hori Gage
By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice reporter of Robert Richards (left) and Royden Haenga (R) have been found guilty of murdering Hori Gage (background, centre) while his partner and three children were in the back seat of their car on August 6, 2023. Composite photo / Jeremy Wilkinson Photo: NZ Herald Hori Gage was gunned down in his car, in front of his long-term partner and three of their children, in daylight, on his driveway on a Sunday afternoon. Today, Royden Haenga and Robert Richards, both Black Power members, were found guilty of murdering him in what the Crown labelled "cold blood" in apparent retaliation for an incident days earlier when a local president of their gang had been stabbed and had his patch stolen. Except Gage had nothing to do with that fight, and belonged to an entirely different chapter of the Mongrel Mob . He'd been wearing a red jacket when Haenga and Richards drove past, armed with rifles and out for blood, the Crown claimed during two weeks of evidence in the High Court at Palmerston North. When they spotted Gage, they turned around, stopped the car and got out. Haenga shot from beside the car door, while Richards advanced on the car, shooting as he went. Gage died at the scene, while his partner and three of his young children watched in horror. Police found six bullets in Gage's body, five of which came from Richards' gun, and one in his arm from Haenga's rifle. Afterwards, the killers returned to their car and sped off, before instructing three lower-ranking gang members to set it on fire and dispose of any evidence. Those three were charged and pleaded guilty to arson. Getaway driver Neihana Cunningham pleaded guilty to manslaughter before the trial and became a Crown witness. Police say that Richards travelled from Hawke's Bay to respond to a call to arms after the stabbing of a Palmerston North Black Power president on 4 August 2023. However, Richards denied being in the car with Haenga and Cunningham when they drove to Croydon Ave on 6 August. Haenga, on the other hand, admitted he was there with Cunningham and what he claimed was an unknown backseat passenger. He admitted shooting at the car but said he intended only to scare or intimidate Gage , not kill him. The jury didn't buy that story and delivered guilty verdicts today for both Haenga and Richards after deliberating for just over 11 hours. Neither Haenga nor Richards took the stand at the nearly three-week-long trial, and their lawyers didn't call any witnesses. However, Richards' lawyer, William Hawkins, took aim at one of the main Crown witnesses, who initially lied to police about having driven Haenga and a man he later identified from a police photo-montage as Richards, from a Black Power house shortly before the shooting. That witness, the only one to be given name suppression, then swapped places with Cunningham as the driver of the car shortly before the shooting. Photo: Supplied In a police interview, the man initially lied about driving the car, but changed his story after he was played audio from a CCTV camera near Gage's house, in which Gage's partner and children could be heard screaming in the aftermath of the shooting. Hawkins accused the witness of being in the car and said he was trying to cover up his involvement. Haenga's lawyer, Scott Jefferson, said his client had never intended to kill Gage and wanted only to intimidate him. He had been "shooting low" on purpose. Jefferson said Haenga didn't plan the murder, and that the person in the back seat of the car, alleged by the Crown to be Richards, acted alone and unscripted. "There is a huge distinction between what Neihana Cunningham and Royden Haenga did and what the guy in the backseat did," Jefferson said. The Crown's case was that Gage was killed in retaliation for the attack on the senior Black Power member days earlier, and that he'd simply been wearing a red jacket at the wrong place and wrong time when Haenga, Cunningham and Richards drove past. Prosecutor Guy Carter said cellphone polling data placed Haenga at the Black Power address shortly before the murder, and CCTV footage identified his white Nissan Teana fleeing the scene after the shooting. Further CCTV footage showed Richards in Palmerston North after having travelled from Hawke's Bay with several associates, and he was identified as being the backseat passenger by the witness with name suppression. Carter said the trial had been about holding the two shooters accountable. "What they did does amount to an execution," he said. "It was targeted, it was a callous, it was cold-blooded." * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
NZ Herald
35 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Knife pulled on security guard at The Warehouse store after shoplifter confronted
'The security guard grabbed one of those Warehouse wheelie baskets and put it between him and the guy. 'The guy with the knife started yelling 'I'm going to stab your eyes out', quite loudly. 'The security guard walked backwards and the guy walked down the same aisle we were, and [the security guard] managed to get him towards the door. 'He had a knife out and pointed it towards one of the female workers and then the security guard pushed him out with one of the baskets.' The Warehouse New Lynn went into lockdown earlier this week when a man pulled a knife and threatened a security guard. After the incident, the staff kept all the customers inside the store, locked the doors and called the police. Officers arrived 35 minutes later, spoke to the security guard, checked the cameras and then confirmed it was safe for customers to leave, the man said. 'It was quite scary. It was not the sort of situation I would like to see anyone in.' However, he had nothing but praise for the way the security guard handled the incident. 'He was so calm. From what I could see, he had the big crate between him and this guy and managed to shuffle him out the door away from our harm's way and the staff members,' he said. 'We were just locked in. People were turning up outside and staff members were banging on the doors and saying get in your cars and go.' Waitemata Police Inspector Kelly Farrant told the Herald police attended a New Lynn retail store on Tuesday evening after a customer refused to pay for an item he had consumed inside the store. 'During this interaction, he refused to comply with staff, and a small knife was seen in the man's hand.' She said police were called and found a 31-year-old man in the nearby area. 'He was spoken to and trespassed from the store. Officers confiscated the small knife.' The Warehouse Group decline to comment. David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Jamie Slater found responsible for murdering Whatitiri Whakaruru at Hāwera accommodation complex
By Tara Shaskey, Open Justice reporter of Jamie Slater, also known as Jamie Shippey, has been found responsible for the death of Whatitiri Whakaruru. Photo: Open Justice / Tara Shaskey Guests at a boarding complex began a night of drinking and playing pool in the recreational area with "no dramas". But when one of the guests, Jamie Slater, had an unexpected change of mood, everything changed in an instant. Without warning, he grabbed a large chef's knife with a 20cm blade from the communal kitchen, headed straight for Whatitiri Whakaruru, and fatally stabbed him in the heart. Whakaruru, 26, pushed Slater away, stumbled backwards, then landed on a couch where he slumped over, bleeding heavily from the chest wound. Today, Slater, who also goes by the name of Jamie Shippey, was found in the High Court at New Plymouth to have been responsible for Whakaruru's death. He was previously found unfit to stand trial on a charge of murdering Whakaruru and has now been detained as a special patient in a psychiatric hospital. The outcome was distressing for the whānau of Whakaruru, who felt failed by the justice system, saying they believe Slater, who appeared via audio-visual link from a health facility, has been allowed to "walk free". Whakaruru was not Slater's first victim. The court has heard he has an earlier conviction for manslaughter, relating to the death of his partner. At today's hearing, the public gallery was packed with Whakaruru's whānau and friends who held photos of him as they comforted one another. Whakaruru's mother described her son as a good, honest and caring young man who had a promising life ahead of him. "He did not have an inch of violence in him," she said in her victim impact statement read to the court. She remembered his great sense of humour and how he would lovingly tease her. Now, he would never have the chance to marry, have children or continue the lineage of his whānau, she said. Addressing Slater, she said she had no words for him other than that he took an innocent life for no reason. "My baby boy is never coming back. From this day, my life will always be shattered and damaged." Whakaruru's sisters also read victim impact statements, with one describing the "excruciating" loss of her younger brother. "I stand here today with a heart shattered beyond repair, grieving the loss of my beloved brother, my parents' youngest child, and my whole entire heart. Whatatiri Whakaruru is his name." She said Whakaruru was "a bright-spirited, irreplaceable soul". His life had been "stolen" by Slater, who she described as a "lowlife, cold-hearted coward". Now, the whānau was left with a wound that refused to heal, she said. Whakaruru's other sister spoke about the outcome of the case and labelled it an injustice for her brother and the whānau. She said Slater had been "allowed to walk free" and felt that his health and background issues were being used as a means for him to avoid accountability. "They [his issues] do not justify your actions," she said. "You were aware of your actions and simply did not care." As the whānau were now forced to confront the reality of a life without Whakaruru, she said the justice system had failed them. "You don't deserve to be granted any special treatment," she told Slater. Whakaruru was killed on 22 April last year, at a boarding complex on Gladstone St in Hāwera, South Taranaki. That evening, Slater had been playing table tennis in the recreational area with other guests before he went to his room. Whakaruru, his cousin Kingi Te Aroha Poutonga Keremeta, and friend Joseph Hori, returned to the complex, where Keremeta was also a guest, around 9.40pm after spending time at another address in Hāwera. Shortly after, the three bumped into Slater in the hallway as they all left their rooms. CCTV footage captured the men shaking hands with Slater, whom they previously did not know, and he walked to the recreational area with them. Whakaruru and his group played pool and table tennis while Slater and other residents also socialised. People were drinking alcohol and the mood in the room was described as being "all good" and "no dramas". At 10.07pm, Slater left the area, walked down the hallway and went to his bedroom. When he returned one minute later, he walked through the communal kitchen, grabbed a knife and headed straight for Whakaruru. Without warning, he stabbed Whakaruru. Slater was then beaten by Keremeta, "as a result of blind fury". Hori grabbed the knife from Slater's hand and threw it on the floor and then went to assist Whakaruru. Other residents phoned 111 and emergency services arrived a short time later. Whakaruru was transported to hospital but he was unable to be revived. The stab wound to his chest went through his heart and was unsurvivable. Slater was later spoken to by police and stated he had been "scared". "There was five or six people. I went to that couch. They said 'you got a problem', I told them 'nah, I haven't got a problem'," he told police. "I got a knife, they were playing pool." He also said he "didn't give a s***" and alleged they were "s****y gang members". Keremeta was earlier sentenced to 10 months of home detention for beating Slater, and on other unrelated violence charges. At today's hearing, Justice Peter Churchman acknowledged the courage and the loss of Whakaruru's whānau, as well as their "frustration" with the outcome. "I acknowledge that for the whānau it will be of little consolation but it is the way the system works with cases like this." Justice Churchman, who previously found Slater unfit, was tasked with determining whether Slater was responsible for the death of Whakaruru, and how to deal with him. He was satisfied there was sufficient evidence to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that he was responsible. The justice then ruled, based on a forensic psychiatrist's report, which was accepted by the defence and the Crown, that Slater was to be detained in a psychiatric hospital as a special patient. He said Slater showed significant behavioural and cognitive deficits such as impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and limited insight. Slater, who also has irreversible brain damage, posed a risk to himself and was a very high risk of reoffending and was assessed as a "significantly elevated" risk of harm to others. The Minister of Health ultimately determined how long the special patient order detaining Slater remained in force. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
