“We thought she was stupid, she was screaming.
“He stabbed two people, completely by accident … everything happened very quickly,” he said.
She was only 20 meters away from the man at some point.
He said the perpetrator was stopped by construction workers, who hit him with a crutch.
“At this early stage we are still working to confirm the exact number and nature of the injuries,” a police spokesman said.
Another woman said the incident started in Murrays Bay and was transported to nearby Mairangi Bay.
“People are screaming. Everything happened so fast. “People were running and the police were there at the same time with big guns and they have someone on the floor at that moment,” said Maria Paz Tapia.
National Police spokesman and MP Mark Mitchell said what happened near a normally quiet beach was “tragic”. “Everyone should be able to go out” without fear of being attacked by a knife, “he added.
He could not comment on the details of the police investigation, but said it was a “complex crime scene” with many locations.
St. John New Zealand said five people were injured and four were taken to Auckland Hospital.
Three people have moderate weight and two light.
East Coast Bays MP Erica Stanford said Murrays Bay was a small community that would feel the impact of the attack. “I am sure the police have arrested the person who is interested.”
A Mirangi resident said he saw “enough police” in the area.
“I saw three or four passing by here to Murrays Bay and an ambulance as well,” he said.
Police have diverted the area around the incident and are urging people to avoid the area.
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