Police say they will not be intimidated by attack

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 10

Police say they will not be intimidated by attack

PA Auckland Police say they will not be intimidated by a shotgun attack on their Pukekohe station early yesterday. Two shots were fired at the station about 12.30 a.m. narrowly missing 22-year-old Constable Andrew Baker. He condemned those responsible, saying officers would not be deterred from doing their

duty. “It was a cowardly thing to do,” he said. “I think what they wanted to do was scare us and they did not succeed. They have just hardened our resolve.” Police have linked the incident with the arrest of three gang members in a Pukekohe hotel at closing time on Thursday. Last evening police were seeking to interview two gang members about

the attack. Constable Bob Halford said four off-duty policemen had telephoned to see if they could help with inquiries. Referring to those behind the attack, he said: “They are certainly not going to get away with it, we are going to come down hard.”

The officer heading investigations, Senior Sergeant Alex Robinson, said 50 gang members and as-

sociates in the town had become more belligerent in recent years. He said a petrol bomb and a rubbish bin had been hurled. Constable Baker said the shots yesterday came from a railway yard 200 m away. He said he thought the shots were aimed at the station rather than at him. “I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”