New Zealand police have arrested an alleged gunman and charged him with the murder of a police officer after an hours-long manhunt west of Auckland.
Key points:
- A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the shooting
- The man is set to appear in court tomorrow
- Last year NZ enacted new gun control laws banning the deadliest types of semiautomatic weapons
The 24-year-old man was arrested late on Friday and charged with multiple serious offences including murder, attempted murder and dangerous driving causing injury.
One police officer was killed, and another seriously injured on Friday morning during what Police Commissioner Andrew Coster described as a “routine traffic stop”.
Mr Coster said both officers were unarmed when they were shot by a gunman who used a “long-barrelled firearm”. The situation “escalated quickly, if not immediately”, he said.
A member of the public was also hit by the alleged gunman’s car and seriously