Te Arohanui Pohio named as woman shot dead by police in Christchurch

The woman who was fatally shot by police in Christchurch has been named.

Te Arohanui Pohio, 53, died after being shot at a residential address in Clyde Rd, Bryndwr, at 11pm on Wednesday.

Police were called after receiving a report of a man armed with a knife, threatening to hurt himself and his partner.

When officers arrived at the home, a woman ran from the house, followed by a man armed with a knife, police said earlier.

“Believing the woman to be at risk of imminent serious harm, police shot the man, critically injuring him,” Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill told media yesterday.

“The woman subsequently picked up the knife and threatened the police.”

She ignored appeals from the officers to drop the knife, instead moving towards them, Hill said.

Police were still at the scene the following morning. Photo / George Heard

She was shot and, despite police rendering medical assistance immediately, she died soon after.

The injured man was taken to hospital.

Hill said the man was in a stable condition and his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

He acknowledged the incident was extremely distressing.

SPCA staff removed two dogs and two birds from the couple's home. Photo / George Heard

The priority for police now was supporting the dead woman’s family, investigating what happened at the house and looking after officers who attended, Hill said.

A critical incident investigation is under way and it will also be referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority, which is standard for any incident involving a police shooting.

Friend Nathan Light at the scene where a woman was shot dead by police in Christchurch on Wednesday night, and another man was critically injured after he was also shot by police. Photo / George Heard

A friend of the woman said she had been in a relationship with the man for about five years.

“They had their troubles,” Nathan Light told the Herald.

“They were off and on fighting, arguing with each other [and] sorting their lives out.”

Light said he met the couple at a local church and the man had been intending to “get baptised in a couple of weeks”.

He said they were eager to beat their demons and had been “ditching all their old associates”.

A source said police had been to the address “loads of times” for reports of family harm and other incidents.

The woman was well known to domestic violence support services and was deemed “a high-risk client”.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. She began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021, as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.