7 Aug 2015

Wanted man 'came looking for his wife'

6:08 pm on 7 August 2015

A man wanted by police after firearms were found at a home in south Auckland had come looking for his wife, his brother-in-law says.

Abdul Hafiz

Police are still looking for Abdul Hafiz (pictured) in Mangere-Papatoetoe. Photo: Supplied

Abdul Hafiz, who is accused of threatening the family with a gun, is believed to still be in Mangere-Papatoetoe.

Two firearms were recovered from the house this morning after a member of the public called in the incident at about 9am.

Mohammed Farad, who lives with his parents, said his sister had come to the house that morning followed by Mr Hafiz, her husband.

He said his sister was unharmed, and they were not worried about Mr Hafiz returning to the house. Their home is being guarded by armed officers.

Armed police guard the family home in Mangere while the search continues.

Armed police guard the family home while the search continues. Photo: RNZ / Mohamed Hassan

The police are still searching for the man and have said, while they do not believe he is armed, he should not be approached.

A school and a kindergarten were put under lockdown this morning as a result of the search.

The drama started shortly after one of those schools - St Mary MacKillop College - had started classes for the day.

Principal Michael Piper said the alarm was raised at about 9.40am.

"We got the phone call from the police directly to the office, it was a direct call to us, and then we got two policemen arriving at the front of our gate to tell us that we had to go into lockdown.

"It's blinds down, doors locked and stay inside until you hear otherwise," he said.

Mr Piper said it was about an hour before the school was told the lockdown was over.

He said staff were individually spoken with rather than "creating chaos" by ringing the bell.

"We visited staff, there was a helicopter above, obviously it was an easy signal to say keep our kids inside - we didn't pass on too much information or anything like that."

Mr Piper said he held fears for the 325 students in his care as a principal.

"Blinds down gives you that little bit of a feel to it that we're inside and it's for real," he said.

Mr Piper said the lockdown lasted about an hour.