16 May 2024

Taupō school in lockdown ends after no gun found

1:09 pm on 16 May 2024
Police in Wellington. Generic image

Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

A lockdown at a school in Taupō had been lifted after police confirmed a person they were seeking wasn't armed.

Police are now speaking to the person but say no firearm is involved.

Earlier officers responded to a report of a person with a gun in the suburb of Nukuhau in Taupō.

The incident occurred on Acacia Bay Road.

A nearby school was locked down as a precaution, police said in a statement.

Cordons were in place to block the road at Acacia Bay Road and Norman Smith Street.

Police passed on thanks to the community for responding to their instructions during the emergency.

It is the second incident affecting a school this week.

On Tuesday a school in Addington in Christchurch was put into lockdown as police sought a man who was believed to be armed.