At least two investigations have been launched into a fatal shooting involving police in Auckland.

That includes a critical incident investigation and an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation.

On Thursday, police said a man was shot and killed as he approached Sylvia Park Shopping Centre carrying a stolen air rifle.

Superintendent Sunny Patel said police had received information about the theft of an air rifle from Gun City in Penrose around 2pm.

Police vehicles and the Eagle helicopter were dispatched to the area, locating the car near Sylvia Park.

Spikes were successfully deployed but the car continued towards Mount Wellington Highway, still being driven in an erratic manner, Patel said.

Police confronted the man underneath an overpass as he approached the entrance of Sylvia Park, still carrying the air rifle. He was then shot by police.

An eyewitness to the chase, who did not want to be named, said he had never seen so many police cars in one place.

“When they passed me, there would have been about 20 [police cars], and by the time I got to Sylvia Park, there was still more coming from every direction, unmarked cars.

“Minutes had passed and there was still more arriving on scene. There was so many.”

He said he was shopping nearby when he saw a white Suzuki Swift “go flying past”, followed by dozens of police cars.

“When I saw it I was like something must have gone on beforehand for them to have formed that formation with the convoy and for them to have armed offenders and dogs, they must have known something was up. If it’s just a normal police chase there wouldn’t be that many cars,” he said.

Police confirm investigations

On Thursday night, Patel addressed media at a press conference in Auckland.

There, he confirmed police had stood up the critical incident investigation. He also confirmed the IPCA had been notified and would be carrying out their own investigation.

Answering questions from the media, Patel said it was not known whether the air rifle was loaded, or whether the man had any ammunition.

Patel was not aware of how many times the man was shot, whether there had been any attempt to detain him or whether he had aimed the weapon at anyone.

“That’s something that will need to be uncovered when we carry out the full investigation, when we’ve actually spoken to the police officers involved,” he said on Thursday night.

The decision to shoot rested with the officer at the scene, and no clearance was required, he said.

“Our investigation is still at the very early stages of piecing together the events,” he said.

Patel could not comment on whether the man had threatened staff at the gun shop, or if staff had attempted to stop the man. The gun theft had been a shoplifting incident and the man had walked in through the front door.

The police investigation would look into what happened at the store, but it was concerning the man was able to steal a weapon, Patel said.

“We just don’t know the circumstances of how he became in possession of that firearm.

“Until we’ve actually figured out the nature of the actual theft and how it occurred, it is of concern.”

Deceased was known to police

At the press conference on Thursday night, Patel declined to go into detail about the identity of the man who was killed, as next of kin had not yet been notified.

He did, however, confirm the man was known to police and was on bail.

The man was not being electronically monitored and was not wanted by police prior to the incident.

He would not go into detail about how the man was known to police or what the bail related to.

Patel said the man was alone, and they were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

Witnesses or anyone with phone or dashcam footage were urged to come forward.

Patel said he was happy with police response times to the incident, and said they were providing support to the officer who fatally shot the man.

“We’ve put support in place for the officer concerned and that support will be ongoing. No-one comes to work and expects this kind of result. Our staff work very, very hard on a daily basis to make sure the community is safe, and this is the last thing that they want to experience.”

Police have also been in contact with the management of the gun store and Ngāti Pāoa, the local iwi.