A major Auckland shopping mall was evacuated as a man held a woman hostage with a knife at her throat.
A major Auckland shopping mall was evacuated after a man took a woman hostage at knifepoint for more than an hour, sparking lengthy police negotiations.
The woman, who is from Christchurch, had been at the shopping at Manukau Westfield with her daughter when she was grabbed in the foodcourt earlythis morning.
Police were called at 8.50am and successfully defused the situation, with the arrest of the man about 10am.
A photo taken by a witness shows the man, dressed in a red hoodie and baseball cap, holding a knife to the woman near Burger King inside the food court.
A manager at one of the mall's stores told the Herald she saw the man run towards the end of the food court and grab the woman by the neck, holding the knife against her.
The manager believed the altercation started about 8.30am.
There’s a women been held hostage at Manukau mall near the food courts. Ummm it’s only 9 something A - M 😩 Walked in with my brother and we only saw a crowd running out and cops running in 😰😱
Another witness said she was about to start work at the mall when she and other staff and shoppers were told to evacuate.
The 26-year-old said the incident began about 8.40am but it "didn't really become an issue" until about 9am.
She knew something was amiss when she saw a police officer running to the corner of the foodcourt, so she also went over to get a closer look and began filming a short video.
The witness said she understood the woman was unknown to the armed man.
The woman was set free and walked out of the building about 10am.
"It looked like she was really upset, she was crying and looked really scared."
