Police are today asking all members of the public to be on the lookout for a prominent New Zealander who has escaped police custody and is the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
In an unusual move, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers fronted a press conference this afternoon to put out the alert, saying that if anyone were to spot the prominent individual, they should not approach them, but call police immediately.
He could not, however, name the individual.
“So, obviously, this particular New Zealander, prominent though they may be, is currently subject to name suppression orders, so the details we can provide about them are at this time limited,” said Chambers. “We ask anyone who sees this individual to respect these orders, as any breach of them may unduly affect this person’s future career prospects.”
Asked whether he could provide any information as to what this person had done, Chambers said he was not at liberty.
“However, I should emphasise, this person is armed and potentially dangerous.”
Chambers looked at his notes closely and squinted.
“Armed? Arms? Has arms? Maybe it’s ‘has arms’. Could be armed. Potentially, arms,” he said. “I’ll check with my people and get back to you on that.”
1 News reporter Benedict Collins pressed Chambers on whether there was anything at all he could give the public to help inform them of who, or what, to keep an eye out for.
“Well, this person is male, or female, or non-binary, or potentially of other identification,” he offered. “They are sentient, mostly upright. Upright most of the time, I believe. I think what I want to emphasise is that they are prominent. They are of prominence. So if you see anyone who is of prominence, definitely give us a call.”
“Is there a chance we’ve actually never heard of this person?” asked Collins.
“There is a very, very good chance of this, yes.”
The Commissioner said he had taken the extraordinary step of holding this press conference himself, because having the relevant district commander do it could leak information as to the individual’s place of residence.
If you see the prominent New Zealander, contact us at [email protected] or try the official Police email address at [email protected].