Police shoot knifeman after fatal stabbing 

An elderly man is dead and the man police allege killed him has been shot three times after a stand off in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson.

Police said the shot man tried to rob a shop in Henderson early in the afternoon and during that incident the shopkeeper was stabbed in the arm. His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

"He left the scene and it then appears he stabbed an elderly gentleman who was out on the path or the street," said police spokeswoman, Philippa White.

"Police became involved. They asked him to give the weapon up. He refused and he was shot."

The man was shot three times by police and taken to hospital where his condition was not known. He was shot by general duties police and not the armed offenders' squad.

Police closed off the area and were speaking to witnesses.

One man who was only a few metres from the incident said he had been told by police not to say anything publicly about it.

Murphy Maiava, said from the Henderson police station two of his staff members from a shop near the shooting were "pretty shaken up" but police said he was not to make any statements until he had been interviewed.

- NZPA