Knife attack at supermarket with multiple injuries, Ōtepoti Dunedin, 10 May 2021
Corrections Officer Jorge Fuenzalida
Civilian Dallas Wilson
The New Zealand Bravery Star
Civilian Vanessa Miller-Andrews
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration
Civilian Ronald Andrew
Civilian Meli Balenivalu
Civilian Hope Clayton
Civilian Ryan Ramsay
Civilian Pamela Thompson
SADZ88 Constable Sophie Allison
JTEH60 Detective Constable Jeremy Toschi
The New Zealand Bravery Medal
Mid-afternoon on 10 May 2021, a man with a short kitchen knife in each hand attacked and wounded a staff member at a central Dunedin supermarket.
Shoppers and staff tried to restrain the offender during the attack, which lasted just over a minute and resulted in four people being stabbed.
Dallas Wilson, a supervisor at the supermarket, was the first to intervene, followed by employee Meli Balenivalu. The offender pushed Meli into the shelves and stabbed Dallas.
Shopper Hope Clayton hit the offender twice on the head with her mobile phone then backed away, yelling ‘Man with a knife’. Store manager Ronald Andrew called 111.
Jorge Fuenzalida, a Corrections Officer who was shopping with his wife Vanessa Miller-Andrews, tried to get the offender to release one knife and was stabbed with the other. He fell, breaking a wrist.
Vanessa tried to drag her husband away but was grabbed by the offender and stabbed twice. She tried to cover her husband as he continued to struggle with the offender.
Pamela Thompson, an employee, threw a plastic chair at the offender. It was picked up by Constable Sophie Allison, who was off-duty and shopping in the store. She tried to pull the offender off Jorge Fuenzalida but he swung his arm, catching her in the head.
Ryan Ramsay, another employee, saw the offender still had the knives and that, despite being pinned on his side, was able to move his hands. Ryan was unable to remove the knives and went to help the injured, using his jersey to apply pressure to their wounds.
Detective Constable Jeremy Toschi, also off-duty, began throwing items at the offender to distract him. Constable Allison used the plastic chair to pin the offender to the ground. She threw her weight on the chair and grabbed his wrists. Ronald Andrew held the offender’s legs as he struggled violently.
Pamela Thompson managed to remove one knife and Constable Allison and Detective Constable Toshi held the offender in place, repeatedly telling him to drop the other knife, which he did as uniformed police arrived to arrest him.
Jorge Fuenzalida demonstrated outstanding bravery by intervening and attempting to disarm the offender, continuing even after sustaining life-threatening injuries as a result.
Dallas Wilson demonstrated outstanding bravery by going to his colleague’s aid and attempting to restrain the offender, receiving life-threatening injuries as a result.
Vanessa Miller-Andrews acted without hesitation to intervene when Jorge Fuenzalida was stabbed, demonstrating exceptional bravery and receiving life-threatening injuries as a result.
Ronald Andrew demonstrated bravery in joining the struggle without hesitation. He helped prevent further harm by removing a knife from the situation, after having been knocked over trying to restrain the offender.
Meli Balenivalu acted without hesitation to assist his colleagues, demonstrating bravery by entering the struggle and attempting to disarm the offender.
Hope Clayton acted without hesitation, demonstrating bravery in attempting to distract the offender from the wounded staff member.
Ryan Ramsay did not hesitate to attempt to disarm the struggling offender, demonstrating bravery.
Pamela Thompson moved without hesitation to assist her wounded colleague, demonstrating bravery in confronting the offender and making a key contribution to restraining and disarming him.
Constable Sophie Allison demonstrated bravery, entering the struggle without hesitation, attempting to pull the offender off a wounded person and restraining him.
Detective Constable Jeremy Toschi demonstrated bravery by entering the struggle without hesitation, helping remove a wounded person and to restrain the offender.