Police have charged a man with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after yesterday’s shooting at an Ashburton Work and Income office.
The man is due to appear in Christchurch District Court today.
Two women died and a third was seriously injured when a man walked into the town's Work and Income office and shot them about 10am yesterday.
The man then fled on a bike, sparking a massive, day-long manhunt.
Police found a suspect in the shooting on a rural property just outside Ashburton about 5.30pm.
The three women who were shot have not yet been name but Work and Income client Carol Ward said she had known one of the victims for more than 15 years.
“She was a very, very nice woman. She will be missed by town, everybody, because she just knew everybody, everybody knew her, she knew the rules of the welfare. She was a lovely lady,” Ward told Radio New Zealand.
The woman had remarked to Ward only a few days ago that there had not been any trouble in the office for a long time.
