KEY POINTS:
A bleeding man with an axe, who had earlier attacked a retired couple, was calmed down and given a cup of coffee by their elderly neighbours until police were able to arrest him.
What the couple didn't know when the stranger entered their home was that their actions
effectively brought to an end a terrifying 10-minute ordeal during which a family and group of builders had been threatened with the axe and the other elderly couple had been stabbed in the head.
The drama started around 8am on a quiet right-of-way in Wellesley Rd, Mangere Bridge.
Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Lynch said a man armed with a knife and an axe chased his family - including a partner with a young baby - from their home following a dispute.
It is not clear what started the argument but Mr Lynch said the man had mental health issues that might have been a factor.
The man then ran to the nearby home of an elderly couple, where he allegedly attacked them with the knife or axe.
The 73-year-old woman suffered moderate injuries and her 75-year-old husband sustained serious cuts to his head. He was last night in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
His wife told the Herald she felt "lousy" but had been discharged from hospital and was staying with her son while police carried out a scene examination at her home.
Mr Lynch said that after leaving the elderly couple, the man fled through several properties, threatening a group of workmen as he went.
One of those builders, a man called Peter, turned up at the door of Frans van der Heijden's home.
"[Peter] bashed on the door and came in and said he had been threatened with an axe by a Polynesian guy. I pulled him in, locked the door and dialled 111," Mr van der Heijden said.
"He was freaking out a bit, he was pretty pale. He'd heard a kerfuffle and wondered over to check it out but backed off because the guy had an axe."
Mr Van der Heijden said Peter told him the man with the axe had gone into a neighbour's home.
Once police had been rung, Peter took a cellphone and went to check on the elderly couple, who had invited the man into their home.
The couple - Tom and Joyce - later told Mr van der Heijden they heard shouting and, wondering what was happening, looked outside.
They saw Peter running towards the van der Heijden home "looking scared", then moments later found the man with the axe on their doorstep.
"Tom opened his deck door like he does every morning and there he was, a man standing there with an axe in his hand with an injury, blood pouring out of him - and he ushered him into his house," said Mr van der Heijden's wife Debbie.
"Tom got him to sit down and made him a cup of coffee and went outside to get his first-aid kit and tried to bandage up his leg.
"He was muttering all sorts of things like, 'They killed my daughter'. He was pretty wild-looking - his eyes were rolling - but Tom said it just happened ... He said it sounds crazy now but that's what they did."
When police arrived, the man had calmed down and was taken away to hospital to be treated for his injuries. There is no indication his daughter had been killed.
Mr Lynch said the man was due in court today on one charge of assault. Further charges are expected to be laid.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
* A family are threatened by a man with a knife and axe.
* The man runs to a neighbouring home, where an elderly couple are allegedly attacked and left with moderate to serious head injuries.
* A group of workmen are threatened with the axe.
* The man turns up on the doorstep of a second elderly couple, who calm him down and give him a cup of coffee while tending to his injuries.