Armed police respond to incident on Auckland's North Shore after schools were put in lockdown

1:36 pm on 7 July 2022

Police have pulled back from a house they have been surrounding for several hours on Auckland's North Shore.

Police had been responding to an incident in Belmont after reports of a person with a firearm.

Heavily armed police surrounded a house on Bardia Street, and a K-9 unit was stationed out the front. They have since pulled back and cordons have been removed.

Police surround a house in Bardia Street, Belmont.

Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro

An RNZ reporter at the scene said earlier, officers appeared to be talking to someone inside.

Waitematā East Area Commander Inspector Stefan Sagar said inquiries were underway following the incident.

"We have searched the house and have since left the area. There is no immediate threat to the public in regards to this incident.

"Our enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances of what has occurred. At this stage, no arrests have been made. If anyone has any information that may assist Police with our enquiries, we ask you to contact us."

Takapuna Grammar, Belmont Intermediate, Belmont Primary, Bayswater Primary School, and Northcote Intermediate all went into lockdown just after 11am.

About 15 minutes later, the schools posted on Facebook saying the lockdown had lifted.

Police surrounded a house on Bardia Street, Belmont.

Photo: RNZ / Nick Truebridge

Earlier, Bayswater and Belmont's schools posted on Facebook that everyone was safe.

Takapuna Grammar said students were safely inside buildings as instructed by police and the Ministry of Education.

Police on Bardia Street in Belmont, Auckland.

An armed police officer at the scene of the incident. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell

'Pretty scary'

Students at Takapuna Grammar said they were told their school was going into lockdown and to go inside and stay away from windows, though they weren't told why.

They told an RNZ reporter it was "pretty scary" and they were still feeling a bit shaken.

Northcote Intermediate said - after its lockdown was over - "We have come out of lockdown and all students, staff and persons on-site are safely accounted for. Everyone did extremely well and responded to instructions. A notice will be going out to parents/caregivers tonight to provide some more information about our emergency lockdown procedures," its principal Phil Muir said.

Police on Bardia Street in Belmont, Auckland.

Police at the incident. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell

Belmont Intermediate principal Nick Hill said the school was advised to go into lockdown as a precaution as there was a firearms incident in the area.

"Lockdown protocols were initiated and our parent community were made aware of the school going into lockdown.

"Our lockdown has since been lifted."

Police on the corner of Bardia Street and Lake Road in Belmont, Auckland.

Police on the corner of Bardia Street and Lake Road in Belmont, Auckland. Photo: RNZ

Separate Devonport incident

In what police said was a separate incident, residents on Domain Street in Devonport described police cars speeding through the area and a man on the run after crashing a car.

A Devonport woman said she heard a car crash and saw a man running away before being tackled by police and arrested.

A car crashed on Domain Street during the incident.

Photo: Supplied / Lara Franks

Lara Franks said she was coming back from the gym and was parking her car when she heard a loud bang.

Behind her, she could see a white car crashed into the back of a second car on Domain Street.

She said she saw a man run out of the car into a house, through a garden, smashing into a fence and into another property, where police arrested him.

Another woman on Domain St said she was on a Zoom call for work when she heard a man driving erratically down her usually quiet street.

She has two children at a school in Takapuna and saw video of them hiding under their desks. "It was like a bad horror movie."

The woman said she heard a car crash and the occupant then exited and attempted to escape through her neighbour's property.

"It all happened so fast, I'm still a bit shaken."