Man to appear in court after Mosgiel supermarket incident

A 27-year-old man will appear in court in Dunedin this morning after allegedly assaulting a supermarket worker and threatening to shoot police in Mosgiel.

The man and a woman were taken into custody in Memorial Park after police were called following reports of a man acting “aggressively” in Countdown on Gordon Rd around noon yesterday.

A police spokeswoman said the man was “threatening staff” at the supermarket and allegedly assaulted a staff member.

A man who works at a Gordon Rd business said he saw police, some armed, flood the area as the alleged offender, then on the loose, laughed, said he was armed, and threatened to shoot police.

It was unclear if the alleged offender actually had a weapon, the man said.

Police declined to say whether he was armed.

At least one school, Taieri College, was closed during the lunchtime incident.

A Countdown spokeswoman said staff were shocked, but safe.

“Everyone is offered support, including counseling.”

The man, who was wearing a medical mask and was lying on the ground, was surrounded by police in Memorial Park around 1 p.m., before being loaded into a patrol car.

A woman with him, who was also wearing a medical mask, was also on the ground. They took her to an unmarked police car.

About six police cars, members of the armed criminal squad and a unit of dogs were at the scene.

Three high school girls, all from Mosgiel, said the couple stopped to ask where the nearest public toilets were prior to the arrest.

The girls told the couple that the police were looking for someone who said they had a gun.

The man laughed, said and replied, “It’s not funny.”

He had been acting “passive-aggressive” and “doubtful,” and the woman did not want to speak, the girls said.

“It was really scary.”

Students said the couple had been in and out of a nearby school. The man rode a bicycle and the woman a scooter.

The man was charged with possession of an offensive weapon.