Axe attack shocks Upper Hutt

Police say three of the four victims involved in an axe attack in Upper Hutt were known to the accused now in custody.

They have confirmed that a 36-year-old man has been charged in connection with last night's attack, which left one person dead and three injured.

The man faces charges of murder and serious assault and is due to appear today in the Lower Hutt District Court.

Police were called to the incident in Blueberry Grove in Timberlea at 8.45pm on Thursday.

They confirmed the person killed was already dead when they reached the address last night.

They said the three injured people were found at different locations nearby. Two of them were described as moderately injured and were being treated at Hutt Hospital.

Two forensic experts arrived at the address at 6.15am today.

Two tents have been erected on the section and were understood to be there to shield the spots where two people received serious injuries.

Colleen Noble, a neighbour of a man hurt in the attack, said he came to her door seeking help.

"My neighbour come from next door - the guy that was attacked - he knocked at the door and he said that him and his mother had been attacked by a man with an axe," she said.

"He had his jumper wrapped around his arm. It was covered in blood. He had wounds on his back. He had a tee shirt on and there was blood dripping off him."

Mrs Noble said the man was carrying an axe and that he had taken it from the attacker. "I took the axe off him, yelled out to my son and then my son rang the police."

She said the injured man went back to the house and found his mother dead. "He come out running out, screaming, crying, saying 'he killed my mum'."

Mrs Noble said the man was very faint, had lost a lot of blood and had to sit down to rest.

She said she did not know who was responsible for the incident but had been told the attacker was a man.

Mrs Noble added she later got a text from a friend who was attacked in a separate incident a short time later and that she suspected it was carried out by the same man.

Another witness, who did not want to be named, said he had found a man lying on the ground with gashes on his arms and legs.

"I just seen him lying on the ground, axed up, with big gashes in the back of his neck. His mum was lying in the house dead, after being axed to death," he said.

"I wouldn't say he's a mate, he's someone I know, but yeah, I seen him on the ground and he was pretty badly axed."

Detective Inspector Darrin Thomson said the incident happened "over a number of properties in a short vicinity from each other".

Two properties were cordoned off in Narana Street as well as the property in Blueberry Grove.

He said police were working to build a clearer picture of what had happened.

"We're closing down the scenes as we speak and identifying the people that we need to speak to. Over the next few days, we'll hopefully find out exactly what's gone on."