A group of six young people — one of whom was found with a knife — were taken into custody yesterday afternoon after allegedly assaulting two teenage girls aboard a bus on Auckland’s North Shore.
Police confirmed the alleged assault was reported to officers around 5pm, where the two victims had been on board a bus as it arrived at Albany Bus Station.
Waitematā East Relieving Area Commander Inspector Mike Rickards said six young people also aboard at the time became “agitative towards the victims”.
“Both victims were assaulted by a member of the group, before all six ran from the bus on foot towards the shopping centre nearby.
“The group of six were located near the mall and all were taken into custody without further incident.”
Rickards said a knife was located on a 14-year-old male and confiscated.
“Both victims were later taken to accident and emergency for a check-up.”
One of the victims told 1News she felt “quite stressed” during the incident and was in “shock, like so much shock”.
“I’m still in shock and I can’t believe that it happened, absolutely.”
She said she would be taking a break from the bus for a while due to the “traumatic” incident, but relies on the bus as a primary mode of transport.
“I think both me and my mate who it happened to, we just don’t want it to happen again, like ever,” she said.
“It’s so stressful because we need to bus, but we’re scared to.”
The mother of one of the victims told 1News she wanted parents to be aware of “opportunists” who want to pick a fight “for the sake of it”.
“I think they need to have those conversations with their children so that their children can be aware rather than living in fear, living in awareness.”
She said the city is becoming “less and less safe,” citing an incident last year that saw a homicide investigation launched after a person died following a fight at the Albany Bus Station.
“I think the sad thing is, we already live in a world where females don’t feel safe when they’re running outside, [or] when they’re doing a walk or exercising. And now we’re living in a society where our children don’t feel safe just to go on the bus to get from point A to point B.
“And you know, we’re thinking how do we protect them? Like, what measures do we have to take?”
Rickards described the behaviour as “simply unacceptable” and said enforcement action, including charges being laid, has been taken over previous incidents involving groups of young people engaging in intimidation or violent behaviour.
“Police are continuing to actively patrol the busy bus stations along the Northern Express route,” he said.
“Our staff are continuing to engage with young people they are encountering, as well as provide reassurance to Auckland Transport staff and commuters.”
AT ramps up security
Auckland Transport’s public transport operations manager Rachel Cara told 1News she was “saddened to hear of this incident”.
“Our staff have reached out to police today to ensure increased patrols and presence at the station. We have increased presence of Transport Officers and security at the station,” she said.
Cara said AT would welcome recommendations from police on how to improve safety at Albany Bus Station and other bus facilities following the police investigation.
“Aucklanders want and deserve a safe transport network where everyone is safe no matter how they move around, particularly children and the vulnerable,” she said.