Suspect on run after 2 New Zealand officers shot and injured

By Associated Press 19 June 2020, 12:00AM

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police say two officers have been shot and seriously injured in Auckland and a suspect is on the run.

Police said they were carrying out a routine traffic stop Friday morning when a person began firing at them before driving away. They said the suspect's vehicle hit a bystander, who was injured.

Schools in the area have been put into lockdown and police have set up road cordons. They have advised people to stay away.

Witness Elaine Taniela told The New Zealand Herald she was at home when she heard gunshots. She said a friend who was on his way to her house at the time described seeing an officer on the ground shaking, as if he was having a seizure.

New Zealand last year enacted new gun control laws banning the deadliest types of semiautomatic weapons after a mass shooting in which a gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers.

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, with about 1.7 million people.

By Associated Press 19 June 2020, 12:00AM

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