Auckland crime: Man charged over LynnMall knife incident that sparked lockdown

The man was arrested after the incident at LynnMall in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Police have laid charges against a man for allegedly brandishing a knife at an Auckland shopping mall yesterday, sending the building into a brief lockdown.

A 37-year-old man was summoned to the Waitākere District Court this morning on five charges - two of possessing a knife and a weapon in a public place, and one each for intimidating another person, owning a drug utensil, and unlawfully taking a vehicle.

Police were called to the scene at 4pm on Thursday after reports of a man with a knife in an “agitated state”.

A witness told the Herald he saw armed police officers running towards a shop near the mall’s food court. “Then I heard shouting and it really freaked me out,” said Jason, who did not wish to be named.

He said he was told to go back inside a shop and was stuck in lockdown for about 25 minutes.

Police said no one was injured. “Police responded to the area and quickly took the man into custody without further incident,” a police spokesperson told 1News.

In September last year, Islamic State supporter Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen stabbed and wounded several shoppers during a terror attack at the Countdown supermarket at LynnMall before being shot dead by members of the police Special Tactics Group.