{"id":567911,"date":"2026-08-13T15:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/567911\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T15:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:26:18","slug":"police-say-man-shot-dead-at-aucklands-sylvia-park-was-on-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/567911\/","title":{"rendered":"Police say man shot dead at Auckland’s Sylvia Park was on bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

An armed man fleeing police has been shot and died at Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall this afternoon. <\/p>\n

At a Thursday evening briefing<\/a>, Superintendent Sunny Patel expressed police sympathies to the family of the dead man.<\/p>\n

He said police have stood up a critical incident investigation in relation to the incident.<\/p>\n

“These events unfolded very quickly,” he said.<\/p>\n

Patel said police knew the identity of the deceased but next-of-kin had not been advised as yet. <\/p>\n

“He was under bail conditions,” Patel said, although he said he didn’t have any information about past bail breaches.<\/p>\n

He said the alleged gunman was not accompanied by anyone else during the unfolding incident. “He was alone.”<\/p>\n

\"Superintendent<\/p>\n

Superintendent Sunny Patel. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Patel was asked whether officers were aware the weapon carried by the man was an air rifle. “We don’t know,” he said. “That will form part of the investigation.”<\/p>\n

In an earlier statement, Patel said police received information at around 2pm of an alleged air rifle theft from Gun City in Penrose.<\/p>\n

Gun City owner David Tipple told 1News the man was being shown an air rifle. “[He] grabbed it and ran out the store with three staff in pursuit. One staff member got close but he succeeded in driving off in a car.”<\/p>\n

Patrol units and the Police Eagle helicopter were deployed to the scene where a white Suzuki Swift was seen travelling near Sylvia Park.<\/p>\n

Witness describes ‘scary’ moment gunman shot at Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

The Police Eagle tracked the vehicle as it travelled into the Pakuranga area where it went into the car park at Pakuranga Plaza.<\/p>\n

“From there, the vehicle quickly exited onto the Pakuranga Highway and began driving erratically towards Panmure,” Patel said. <\/p>\n

Syvia Park mall the scene of a dramatic early Thursday afternoon chase and shooting. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

The vehicle was spiked as it drove in an “erratic manner” towards Panmure and on to the Mount Wellington Highway.<\/p>\n

The vehicle became stranded at an intersection outside Sylvia Park Shopping Centre and the man fled on foot, carrying a long-barrelled air rifle towards the grounds of the mall around 2.50pm, Patel said.<\/p>\n

Suspect headed towards the mall entrance<\/p>\n

Officers followed the man as he headed towards an entrance to the mall, he said. <\/p>\n

“Whilst still in possession of the air-rifle, he has been confronted underneath an overpass where he was been shot by police.<\/p>\n

“First aid was immediately provided however the offender has been pronounced deceased at the scene.”<\/p>\n

Patel said police had now stood up a critical incident investigation.<\/p>\n

“Our investigation is still in the very early stages of piecing together all the events,” he said.<\/p>\n

“A cordon has been set up at the scene, and we ask that people avoid the area at this stage.<\/p>\n

“These events have unfolded very quickly in a busy area, with people shopping at the mall and the afternoon rush hour getting underway.<\/p>\n

“I can reassure the public that there is no ongoing risk.”<\/p>\n

The Independent Police Conduct Authority had been notified.<\/p>\n

Mall locked down during incident<\/p>\n

A lockdown at Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall was put in place before being lifted following the incident. <\/p>\n

A police spokesperson earlier today said officers had cleared the scene to permit most of the area to reopen.<\/p>\n

“The incident has concluded and there is no risk to public safety,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police beyond a cordon at Sylvia Park holding up a white sheet to shield part of the scene from public view. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“There will be a continued police presence in the area as enquiries are undertaken however, so the public is asked to avoid the area. <\/p>\n

“Further information will be released as soon as possible.”<\/p>\n

A witness at the traffic lights near Sylvia Park Mall told 1News she saw a man drive up next to her onto a traffic island and his car became stuck. <\/p>\n

She said the man then got out of the vehicle with a large gun and began walking towards her vehicle. The man ran towards the mall after about five police cars and helicopter appeared. <\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police surround a white car at Auckland’s Sylvia Park. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

‘They shot him. Bang’<\/p>\n

Witness George Heller told 1News he was putting his groceries in his car when he saw a man believed to be carrying a pistol run past him while being chased by around eight armed officers.<\/p>\n

“And then they shot him \u2013 three shots. Bang.” <\/p>\n

The man was shot near the Footlocker store, Heller said.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t know what to do. I just went and saw people next to me and made sure they were OK.”<\/p>\n

A restaurant worker at the mall told 1News they heard multiple gunshots before a major police presence swarmed the mall carpark.<\/p>\n

Another witness at H&M inside the mall said she was on the bottom floor when she heard “three to four gunshots”.<\/p>\n

“Next thing I know, we\u2019re being told, ‘go upstairs! Go upstairs! Go upstairs!'”<\/p>\n

She said it sounded like the shots were coming from outside the mall. Multiple police cars and a cordon could be seen from the window of the shop. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A police cordon around Auckland’s Sylvia Park. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency NZ crews and St John were also at the scene. <\/p>\n

Footage from a 1News cameraman shows police beyond a cordon holding up a white sheet to shield part of the scene from public view.<\/p>\n

Shoppers had since been told they could leave through a specified exit through the back of the mall.<\/p>\n

The carpark remained closed, one witness said.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Fire and Emergency crews, St John and police were at the scene. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

In a statement, local MP Greg Fleming said police had advised the incident was “no longer ongoing”. <\/p>\n

“If you’re at the centre, please keep following the directions of police and staff,” he said.<\/p>\n

“To everyone caught up in this, shoppers, retail workers and the Sylvia Park team, I know how frightening this will have been.<\/p>\n

“I’ll be checking in with police and Sylvia Park management over the coming days to see what support is needed.”<\/p>\n

Three gunshots heard<\/p>\n

A witness told 1News they were leaving the mall when they saw a man running across the road from the direction of Spotlight while being chased by police.<\/p>\n

The witness said the man was wearing a white T-shirt, black hat and black glasses and was carrying what “looked like a rifle”.<\/p>\n

“As I grabbed my phone out I heard three gunshots,” they said.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police officers at Auckland’s Sylvia Park. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Geneva House, an office space in the Sylvia Park Precinct, was also in lockdown, 1News understands. <\/p>\n

The two-level mall in Mt Wellington is the country’s largest shopping centre.<\/p>\n

Kiwi Property, which owns and manages the complex, said in a statement it was aware of the incident and “a portion of the centre was locked down as a precaution”. <\/p>\n

“The incident is now contained by NZ Police and while a portion of the centre remains cordoned off, the shopping centre is no longer in lockdown,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Detours and diversions were in place for multiple bus routes due to the “emergency services incident”, Auckland Transport said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An armed man fleeing police has been shot and died at Auckland’s Sylvia Park mall this afternoon. At…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[51,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-567911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-auckland","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}