Police in Napier were tonight searching for three people who robbed a dairy at gunpoint.
Senior Sergeant Dan Foley, of Eastern Police Command Centre, said the robbery happened about 6.30pm when three people, one armed with a rifle, entered the League Park Dairy in Taradale Rd, a short distance from the Napier Fire Station.
They were understood to have pointed the weapon at a shopkeeper and demanded cigarettes and cash, fleeing with a quantity of cigarettes across Taradale Rd, into Henry Hill and Morse streets.
All available police in the Napier area converged on the scene and were still seeking the offenders over an hour later.
Descriptions were still being clarified, but it was possible one was a female. All wore dark clothing but one had a brown hooded top.