Two Dead After Shooting at Ashburton WINZ Office
- Publish date
- Monday, 1 Sep 2014, 11:59AM
Work and Income (NZ Herald)
UPDATED 6:05pm:Â Police have taken a man into custody over the fatal shooting of two people at a Work and Income office today.
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Reporter Tyler Adams has been at a briefing with Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Gary Knowles.
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He says Russel John Tully was found in the Lake Hood area - but police are still searching for a sawn-off shotgun.
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"No charges have been officially laid yet. But certainly that will be the process later on tonight, but obviously for the police and for the people of Ashburton there is a lot of relief they apprehended this guy tonight."
Tully has dog bite wounds as a result of his arrest.
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Police have named the man they are looking for after two people were killed at Ashburton's Work and Income this morning.
He is John Henry Tully.
John Henry Tully
Last month the Ashburton Guardian interviewed John Tully - the man police have named as a person of interest over the fatal shooting at WINZ Ashburton this morning. Read the interview HERE
A press conference has been held by Superintendent Gary Knowles.
He says Tully is dressed in camouflage clothing and may be carrying a sawn-off shotgun.
Superintendent Knowles says they are asking for Mr Tully to come forward
"He at this stage is only a person of interest and we would like to speak to Mr Tully. We believe he is somewhere in the greater Ashburton area and we would like him to come forward and liaise with my team.
"He is a person of about 48 years of age. Medium height 183(cm) and solid build. We believe that he may have a shaved head."
He says it's not a case of a lock-down but people need to be prudent
"If they see anything suspicious, anyone in their backyards, anyone hiding in a shed, anyone of interest please contact us urgently. We want to find this guy."
A third person is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
A second cordon was set up down by Ashburton River and armed police ran down the riverbank about 11:30am, locals said.
A mobile command unit has been set up.
"I'm looking at three armed police at the moment. They've blocked off two square blocks of the inner city where this incident unfolded. At the moment they're still patrolling the outskirts of these blocks.
"It is not known at the moment what has happened to this gunman, whether as we know at this stage it appears he's still on the loose, whether they have cornered him in these two separate blocks it is unknown at that stage but it certainly seems to be the case, with every police officer that I can see armed."
Residents in Ashburton are asked to stay indoors while the situation is still ongoing.
A man entered the office just after 10am and fired a gun, police said.
The man, who was reportedly wearing a balaclava and carrying a shotgun, left on a bike afterwards and was this morning still on the loose.
Schools and early childhood centres are keeping children inside until further notice.
The Ministry of Education says it's contacted all schools in the area and they have been prompt in keeping children safe.
A hockey tournament at Ashburton College has been cancelled.
Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) officers from Christchurch were sent to the scene, police confirmed.
A witness who was in the building at the time said a man wearing a black balaclava entered and shot two women, one of whom was interviewing him at the time.
He believed they were both WINZ staff members.
"It was incredibly loud, I could feel the air whoosh past my head," he said.
He followed the man outside.
"He must have broken the gun down because he put it in his back pack," the witness said.
Two other people who had just left the WINZ building saw a man wearing a balaclava and carrying a shotgun enter the premises.
Soon after they heard two shots.
A woman, also believed to be a staff member ran out and shouted at them to call the police, before running into the nearby medical centre.
They said the man's bike had been chained up on a street corner.
He headed east on Moore Street, leaving his bike helmet on the street.
A postie at a business across the road heard the man screaming and swearing as he left the building.
A staff member at an automotive garage across the road from the Work and Income office said she wasn't aware of any incident until she went outside for morning tea break and saw a cordon around the building.
"There were a couple of ambos and police there with a big cordon but other than that we didn't know it had happened."
Suspect had been offered emergency accommodation
The main suspect in the Ashburton Work and Income shooting had previously been granted emergency accommodation.
Police have named 48-year-old John Tully as the person responsible for killing two people and leaving another in a serious condition, after the shooting at the town's Work and Income office.
Ashburton Mayor Angus McKay says he has met the man during his search for temporary housing with Presbyterian Support.
"Presbyterian support looked after him very well. The support normally is for one or two nights. I know this gentleman was four. So everything has been done in the past for this gentleman."
Mr McKay says Tully was never violent or aggressive in any of his dealings with him.Â
