The driver hit two New Zealand police officers during a foot patrol in the early hours of the New Year, killing one and seriously injuring another, the country's police chief said.
The attack shook the country, where killing police officers in the line of duty is rare. Senior Sergeant Lynn Fleming has become the first female officer in New Zealand's history to be killed in a criminal act while on duty, police said on Thursday.
In Wednesday's attack, a car plowed into officers “at speed” as they were on routine parking patrol before the driver swerved and rammed the police car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told reporters in the South Island city of Nelson. Fleming died a few hours later at a local hospital.
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A 32-year-old man was arrested for the incident shortly after it happened at around 2am local time. He was charged with eight felony counts, including murder, attempted murder, assault with a vehicle as a weapon and driving without a license.
The other officer who was hit by the car was in critical condition but was expected to make a full recovery, Chambers said. A third officer in the rammed police car suffered a concussion and two civilians were injured, one of them after coming to the aid of the injured officer.
Chambers condemned the “senseless act by a man who appears to be determined to do harm,” although he did not specify a motive.
“At this stage, there was no indication of what was going to happen,” Chambers said.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters that the officers were “targeted in what I believe to be a very cowardly attack”. It was a “devastating day” for the police and for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on X.
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The attack took place in the center of Nelson, a city of 55,000 people, not far from the street where the city's New Year celebrations ended two hours ago.
Until Wednesday, the last on-duty police killing in New Zealand was in 2020, when an officer was shot by a hit-and-run driver. According to police records, thirty-three officers have died in the line of duty since 1890.
Fleming has been an officer for 38 years and has long worked as a netball coach at a local girls' high school.
“She's a mother, she's a wife, and she's a well-known and highly respected member of the Nelson community,” Chambers said.
The accused is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. A conviction for murder in New Zealand carries an automatic sentence of life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of at least 10 years set by the presiding judge.