After a 16-year-old boy was fatally stabbed during an altercation at the bus hub yesterday, Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich visited the scene this morning.
Asked by the ODT if he had a message for the community, he said the bus hub was safe and it was his understanding security patrols recently brought in by the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council to address community concerns had had a positive effect.
‘‘The bus hub is safe and it will be safe and that this is very much, well, an isolated incident.
"And I think that after a review in conjunction with the police and the ORC, we’ll address what other things can be done if required.
Those he had spoken to at the scene this morning had been "deeply shocked".
‘‘It’s been good to come down and just see on the ground and find out more about what’s gone on and how it’s been going, because the security people have not felt that things were that terrible, but you can have a situation like this obviously explode and blow out of control much to everyone’s amazement."
Mr Radich offered his condolences to those affected and said those affected by the "horrific" incident – pupils, teachers, parents, friends and family – would be "absolutely devastated".
"But also the wider community of Dunedin is very concerned about this and any incident of this nature.
"I think we’re a caring community and we’re a pretty close community by comparison with other parts of the country.
"There will be a lot of concern.’’
King’s High School pupil Harjot Singh (17) said it was a sad day yesterday, heightened by the youth of the victim.
He felt for the boy’s parents, he said.
And he felt surprised by the incident, because he generally felt the bus hub was safe.
A 16-year-old John McGlashan College pupil at the bus hub this morning said he usually did not catch the bus alone, because there were people at the bus hub, whom he found intimidating.
"To be honest, I feel this place isn't that safe."
He had not been at the bus hub yesterday afternoon but he had received a photo on Snapchat as emergency services worked to try to save the boy from a friend who happened to be across the street.
An 18-year-old University of Otago international student said he had chosen to come to New Zealand because he thought it was a safe place "but after that incident I feel scared".
