A driver hits two New Zealand police officers, killing one of them

Driver ran down two New Zealand Police officers were shot while on foot patrol in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing one and seriously wounding another, the country’s police chief said.

The attack shook a country where police officers are rarely killed on duty. New Zealand police announced on Thursday that Sergeant Lynn Fleming was the first female officer in New Zealand’s history to be killed in a criminal act while on duty.

In Wednesday’s attack, the car hit officers “at speed” while they were on routine patrol in a car park, before the driver turned around and rammed a police car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told reporters in the South Island city of Nelson. Fleming died at a local hospital hours later.

A 32-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident shortly after it occurred, at approximately 2 a.m. local time. He was charged with eight criminal offences, including murder, attempted murder, assault using a vehicle as a weapon and driving while disqualified.

The other officer struck by the car was in serious condition but is expected to make a full recovery, Chambers said. A third officer in the hit police car suffered a concussion and two members of the public were injured, one of them after he came to the aid of the injured officers.

Chambers condemned the “senseless act of an individual who appears intent on causing harm,” although he did not give a motive.

“There was, at this point, no indication that what was about to happen had happened,” Chambers said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters that the officers “were targeted in what I consider to be an absolutely cowardly attack.” It was a “devastating day” for the police and the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on X.

The attack occurred in the downtown area of ​​Nelson – population 55,000 – near the street where the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations concluded two hours earlier.

Before Wednesday, the last murder of an on-duty police officer in New Zealand was in 2020, when an officer was shot by a fleeing driver. Thirty-three other officers have died from criminal acts while on duty since 1890, according to police records.

Fleming was an officer for 38 years and was a long-time netball coach at a local girls’ high school.

“She is a mother and wife and a well-known and well-respected member of the Nelson community,” Chambers said.

The accused man is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. A murder conviction in New Zealand automatically results in a life sentence, with the presiding judge setting a non-parole period of at least 10 years.