Police arrested one man last night and said this morning the 25-year-old has been charged with aggravated robbery and is due to appear in Auckland District Court tomorrow.
They confirmed one person was still on the run.
“Enquiries are ongoing and no further arrests have been made at this stage."
Several armed officers and police vehicles can be seen at the LynnMall shopping centre in the suburb of New Lynn, Auckland.
Yesterday a man told the Herald he was in the Reading Cinema watching Mission Impossible when the lights came on and a member of staff came in shouting that everyone should leave the building “because the police are here”.
In a supplied video, those watching the film are evacuated to the first-floor lobby while multiple police officers sweep the theatre complex, including bathrooms.
Two officers can be seen approaching the disabled toilets yelling: “Armed police, open the door.”
“It was mostly orderly, but the cops were clearing the entire cinema and leaving no area to guess work,” said the movie buff.
The whole search probably took 10 to 15 minutes.
“The manager on shift was the junior manager. She was very young but she did a great job managing the evacuation from the screens.”
‘Boom’: Large police presence, shoppers hear gunshots
Earlier, eyewitnesses reported hearing what they thought were gunshots near the mall.
A staff member at the RSA New Lynn, which is behind the mall, said they rushed outside after they believed they heard two gunshots.
“We saw a person running through the carpark. I don’t know if he was running because of the gunshots or if he was being chased or what.“
The staffer said they saw several police cars arrive shortly afterwards.
The RSA did not go into lockdown, she said. A police spokesperson said no shots had been fired.
Police gathered inside Auckland's LynnMall outside the entrance to Woolworths. Photo / Supplied
As the incident unfolded, police could be seen gathered inside the mall’s locked doors outside the entrance to Woolworths.
The same supermarket was the scene of a terror attack in 2021 where five shoppers were stabbed and the attacker, Ahamed Samsudeen, was shot by specialist undercover police.
Another woman told the Herald she was waiting for her kids in the Bay Six carpark when she heard a “boom”.
She said she saw a man run very fast and he yelled something before he entered the mall.
Other members of the public in the area have taken to social media to share what they saw.
One person said the man at the centre of the callout was driving a car and crashed before running into the mall and yelling. Seconds later, armed police arrived.
Another bystander said they saw at least five police officers with guns.
Another person said he and his wife saw a man running through the mall as officers gave chase.
One man posted a video while he walked around the carpark filled with police. “I heard the gunshots just before, and I was running.”
The Workshop Bar in Kelston was placed in lockdown after a door was smashed this evening.
Meanwhile, patrons of the Workshop bar in West Auckland – less than a kilometre from the New Lynn armed police callout – were shut into the bar after a man tried to smash through the glazed door.
The bar had about 15 people watching a Warriors match when an agitated man walked past the bar and smashed the ashtrays on tables out the front of the bar.
