The Women's Refuge says lessons need be learned from a hostage drama in Taranaki which ended with the gunman being shot by police.
Anthony Ratahi, 46, kept his his ex-girlfriend for 12 hours against her will at a hotel in Opunake before he was shot and killed by police.
He had been out of prison for just over a week for an earlier attack on the same woman.
Women's Refuge chief executive Heather Henare says police were working with the woman but it needs to be established whether the local refuge and police were communicating effectively.
"If an abuser has attempted to take someone's life they're usually pretty persistent with that and alarm bells should go off and people should be taking that very seriously."
Ms Henare says the victim will be feeling overwhelmed after the ordeal she has been through..
