A witness to today's shocking LynnMall Countdown attack in West Auckland says he saw an elderly man lying on the ground with multiple stab wounds, before hearing several gunshots not long after a pair of undercover police entered the supermarket.
Jim Taoirangi was about to enter the supermarket when he saw a woman walk out with a stab wound in her shoulder.
"There was chaos," he told 1 NEWS.
Hearing there was a man with a knife, Taoirangi said he was about to go in and try and help by throwing bottles, tins, "whatever I could" at the perpetrator, before a pair of undercover police ran into the supermarket.
He pointed down the end where he believed the attacker was, and watched as the police sprinted in that direction.
"They ran down the end and within three to five seconds gunshots, four, five shots from police," Taoirangi says.
A St John spokesperson told 1 NEWS five ambulances and three rapid response units were called to the scene at 2.40pm.
Three patients in a critical condition and one in a serious condition have been transported to Auckland City Hospital, one patient in a moderate condition has been taken to Waitākere Hospital, and one patient in a moderate condition and has been transported to Middlemore Hospital.
The alleged offender was fatally shot by police at the scene.
Countdown released a statement saying they were "devastated" by what had taken place at their LynnMall location this afternoon. The store has been closed until further notice.
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