Two killed at Ashburton WINZ

Stuff reports:

Two people have been shot dead by a balaclava-clad gunman at a Work and Income office in Ashburton.

The gunman entered the office on the corner of Cass and Moore streets, and fired several shots before fleeing on a bike.

He was last seen heading towards the Ashburton river. 

A source confirmed to Fairfax Media that one person was shot dead on site and another died at Ashburton Hospital. A third person remained in hospital in a critical condition, the source said.

The Ashburton Guardian quoted a witness who was in the building when the shots were fired.

The witness said a man shot two women. He believed they were both Work and Income staff members, the newspaper reported.

How terrifying and horrific for WINZ staff in Ashburton, and all their colleagues around the country. My thoughts are with them all.

I hope the person who did this is apprehended, convicted, and not eligible for parole on their life sentence for a very very long time.

I’d ask people not to politicise this tragedy, but just to mourn those killed, and have sympathy for their colleagues.