A teenager has been charged with murder and will appear in the Dunedin Youth Court this morning following the death of a 16-year-old boy in Dunedin yesterday afternoon.
The incident which occurred just after 3pm saw an altercation between the victim and offender. Police are still working to establish the circumstances leading into the incident but can confirm that we have recovered a knife from the scene.
The victim was transported to Dunedin Hospital in a serious condition and, tragically, passed away a short time later.
Our scene examination on Great King Street is now complete and several enquiries are underway.
A post-mortem is expected to be carried out today and next of kin notifications are ongoing.
We are working, along with Victim Support to support the victim’s family at this extremely difficult time.
We continue to ask anyone who witnessed the incident or took photos or video footage to get in touch with Dunedin Police via 105, quoting file number 240523/3321.
Otago Costal Area Commander Inspector Marty Gray says this incident is extremely distressing for the community, and we have further increased our patrolling in the area.
“Police have been aware of anti-social behaviour at the Bus Hub for some time and have been working closely with the Dunedin City Council, Otago Regional Council and other partners to address this issue. There has been extra CCTV put in place, as well as security staff patrolling the area. Security was working at the Bus Hub yesterday when this incident occurred and quickly intervened when they saw the altercation. Police have increased our foot and car patrols in the area focussing on peak times to ensure high visibility of police officers,” says Inspector Gray.
“As this matter is now before the courts, we are unable to comment further but we can assure our community that we have been working hard, along with our partners to address the issues, particularly involving youth at the Bus Hub. The incident yesterday was a tragedy, and our hearts go out to the victim and his family.”
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre