A man is in hospital in a critical condition after shooting himself following an armed standoff with police in a house in the south Auckland suburb of Papakura, police say.
Following hours of negotiations, during which three children were released from the house, police heard a shot ring out from inside at around 1:30pm.
"Police sent in a robot to have a look inside and make sure it was safe for our staff prior to entry," says Detective Inspector Dave Lynch.
"Upon doing that it became obvious the man had shot himself, then police staff and medical staff were deployed at that stage. He's subsequently been taken to hospital and is currently in a critical condition."
Police were called at around 6am by a woman who fled the Rolleston St address, saying she'd been seriously assaulted.
The armed offenders squad and a negotiator attended the scene as the woman said a man had a firearm and three children inside.
"Police responded and throughout the course of the morning, we'd been in negotiations with the man. The three children in the house were a concern to us and most of the negotiation throughout the morning through to about lunchtime focused on securing the safety of those children," says Det Insp Lynch.
"Through some good work by the negotiator and the cooperation of the man, the three children were released just after lunchtime."
Police say they're unsure of what started the confrontation and the investigation is in its early stages, but that the man is known to the woman who fled the address, and the children who were released.
The children, aged 13, 9 and 7 live at the address, along with the man. None of the children were injured.
Police had asked members of the public to avoid the Sutton Cres and Rolleston St area while they tried to bring the situation to a peaceful conclusion.
Sheehan Avenue in Papakura was also cordoned off, with residents being told very little.
"There's an armed police officer with a bushmaster rifle basically stopping people from going down there. Even residents can't go down there at the moment," a witness told Newshub.
A neighbour, Mahalia, said she had been kept from her house by the cordon since 6am.
She said they saw all the police in the morning and checked to see what was going on.
"We went for a walk up to go and have a look and next thing we knew, we weren't allowed back into the house, we weren't allowed to go home," says Mahalia.
"We saw the armed offenders squad and they just told us they didn't want us dispensing out on the street.
"Still trying to get home, we've got children at home."
She said it's very concerning for Papakura.
Newshub.
