An elderly woman has been taken to hospital and a TVNZ camera operator left "shaken" after they were knocked over in an alarming incident broadcast live on 1 NEWS.
The cameraman had been filming a live cross with COVID-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy in the central Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn after the Government's alert level announcement.
But during the interview, yelling was suddenly heard in the background. A shirtless individual could be seen running in the back of the shot as a visibly confused Professor Hendy trailed off and then, moments later, the camera was seen spinning to the ground.
Two more people could be seen sprinting from the scene before 1 NEWS cut to anchor Wendy Petrie, who let out a gasp.
"I'm very sorry. Are you OK? OK that wasn't good," she said. "I hope the cameraman is OK and we are able to come back to Professor Shaun Hendy."
Footage of the live cross was quickly posted to social media, with Kiwis asking what had happened and expressing their hope the camera operator was alright.
"An individual ran through a 1 NEWS live cross just before 5pm. Our 1 NEWS cameraman and a member of the public were pushed to the ground," TVNZ wrote on Twitter.
"Our cameraman was attended to by ambulance staff - everyone is ok, including [Prof Shaun Hendy] who was being interviewed."
An internal email sent to 1NEWS staff seen by Newshub says the cameraman is "shaken but fine".
"The main thing is this doesn't seem to be a motivated or even opportunistic event. Sounds like a rather unfortunate accident," the email reads.
Police told Newshub the incident relates to reports of an assault of two people on Francis St in Grey Lynn shortly before 5pm on Monday.
"A youth has fled an address and has pushed over two people who were on the footpath and run from the scene," a spokesperson said.
"A male, who is a camera operator, has fallen to the ground after being pushed, receiving a minor injury, while his camera was also damaged.
"An elderly female has also fallen after being pushed. She has been taken to hospital as a precaution with moderate injuries."
Police say the youth has been located and has been taken back to their address, where they are being dealt with by police.
