The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
ANDERSON, Mr Ian Stewart
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 24 October 2022, a car crashed into a ditch and rolled onto its passenger side on State Highway 1 near Kekerengu. The female driver was injured and trapped inside, while the injured passenger was able to escape onto the roadside. The vehicle caught fire and passing motorists moved the passenger away from the car when it ignited.
Mr Ian Anderson, a truck driver, saw smoke from the crash and stopped at the scene. He exited his vehicle and was handed a fire extinguisher by another motorist, before approaching the crashed car. He saw flames coming from the gap between the bonnet and windscreen and used the fire extinguisher, which only temporarily supressed the flames.
Mr Anderson entered the upturned car via the rear passenger door, using a walking stick to jam the door open so it would not shut on him, before being assisted by Mr Roland Ipenburg, who held the door and followed inside. Mr Anderson found the driver lying against the front passenger door. They attempted to lift the driver but were only able to roll her onto her right side. Mr Anderson was passed another fire extinguisher and deployed it within the cabin, seeing flames coming through the console. There was a burst of flame while they were in the vehicle, so Mr Anderson and Mr Ipenburg exited and began looking for more fire extinguishers. Flames were beginning to run up the clothing of the driver’s right leg. At this time, Senior Constable Andrew Watson was the first emergency responder to arrive at the scene.
Senior Constable Watson deployed his fire extinguisher to suppress the fire on the driver’s clothing. He lay on his stomach on the upturned side of the car, reaching into the vehicle through the rear door and managing to grasp the driver’s hand. Mr Anderson held Senior Constable Watson’s belt, so Watson could reach further into the vehicle without falling, with Mr Ipenburg grabbing Mr Anderson to assist. Together they tried to lift and pull the driver from the car, but Watson lost his grip. Senior Constable Watson’s attempts to reach the trapped driver proved impossible and Mr Anderson and Mr Ipenburg pulled him from the car due to the severity of the fire. Soon after Senior Constable Watson exited the vehicle, it was engulfed by fire.
Mr Anderson demonstrated exceptional bravery by entering the burning vehicle to attempt to rescue the trapped driver.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
BRODIE, Mr Stephen Robert (Steve)
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 3 September 2021, a man, who had been under intense Police surveillance, entered a supermarket in New Lynn, Auckland and acquired a large kitchen knife, which he used to indiscriminately attack people across several aisles of the store. Within minutes, the offender caused significant injuries to five individuals and attempted to attack members of the public and staff who had barricaded themselves in a storeroom, before being fatally shot by Police officers.
Mr Steve Brodie was present in the supermarket with his wife at the time of the attack. He heard screaming and approached the sounds. He saw the offender stab a woman on the ground. Mr Brodie noticed the offender was walking in their direction, so he and his wife passed through some swing doors into a storeroom where several other shoppers and staff were hiding. Mr Brodie, along with staff members, barricaded the swing doors to prevent the offender gaining access to the storeroom. The offender pushed against the doors and managed to partially open them. He swung the knife, cutting Mr Brodie as he pushed against the doors. The offender was prevented from accessing the storeroom and moved away, eventually being stopped by the Police.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
CURREEN, Mr Johnathan Aaron
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 3 September 2021, a man, who had been under intense Police surveillance, entered a supermarket in New Lynn, Auckland and acquired a large kitchen knife, which he used to indiscriminately attack people across several aisles of the store. Within minutes, the offender caused significant injuries to five individuals and attempted to attack members of the public and staff who had barricaded themselves in a storeroom, before being fatally shot by Police officers.
Mr Johnathan Curreen was present in the supermarket with his wife at the time of the attack. He heard screaming and saw the offender stab a woman who fell to the ground. After a short while, Mr Curreen saw the offender return to crouch over the woman to stab her again. Mr Curreen joined other shoppers in an attempt to distract the offender away from the woman. Mr Curreen shouted at the offender and rammed his trolley into him, while other shoppers also used trolleys and stanchions to distract and maintain distance between them and the offender.
The offender followed Mr Curreen down the aisle, who backed away and crossed into another aisle, keeping the trolley between him and the offender. The offender followed and Mr Curreen and the other shoppers who had been distracting the offender moved to opposite ends of the aisle, keeping distance and barriers between them. At this time, two Police officers arrived to confront the offender, who was subsequently fatally shot.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
FOLEY, Mr Bodey Thomas
Citation
On the evening of 11 April 2020, Mr Bodey Foley was at home in Naenae, Lower Hutt, when his daughter drew his attention to a commotion on the deck outside their house. Mr Foley looked outside to see his neighbour lying on her back on the deck, being stabbed by a knife-wielding man kneeling on her.
Mr Foley grabbed a softball bat near the door and exited the house, approaching the struggling pair. He swung the bat at the man, which did not stop him attacking the woman. Mr Foley hit the man several more times to drive him away from his neighbour. The man, still armed with the knife, walked away from the woman, and began pacing up and down the driveway.
Mr Foley, with help from his family, moved their neighbour to the safety of their house and administered first-aid while waiting for emergency services to arrive. Mr Foley saw the man on the driveway and chased him with the bat. The man looked at Mr Foley and pulled the knife from his pocket, before turning and running away as Police sirens approached.
Mr Foley demonstrated exceptional bravery intervening in the attack on his neighbour, saving her life.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
HUNT, Constable Matthew Dennis (Matt) (Posthumous)
Deceased 19 June 2020, Auckland
New Zealand Police
Citation
Mid-morning on 19 June 2020, Constable Matt Hunt and Constable David Goldfinch were on traffic duty in West Auckland in a Police vehicle. A vehicle approached from the opposite direction which caught the officers’ attention, and a check of the Police system found that the vehicle owner was the subject of several Police alerts. They activated their lights and followed the vehicle, intending to perform a traffic stop.
The vehicle sped off and, as the officers followed, it lost control and crashed into a parked vehicle, which was being loaded by a member of the public, who was injured in the collision. The fleeing vehicle sustained crash damage making it inoperable. Constable Goldfinch exited the Police vehicle intending to provide first aid to those involved in the crash. However, the occupant of the crashed vehicle exited and pointed a semi-automatic firearm at Constable Goldfinch. Constable Goldfinch was unarmed and attempted to reason with the offender to put down his weapon. The offender responded by firing at Constable Goldfinch.
Constable Hunt was still in the Police vehicle and radioed the Police Comms Centre as the first shot was fired, requesting assistance. Constable Goldfinch initially took cover behind parked cars as the offender continued to fire at him, before fleeing further down the road. Constable Goldfinch received gunshot wounds before taking cover in a nearby property. Within 14 seconds, the offender had fired nine shots at Goldfinch. As the offender was firing, Constable Hunt radioed again to advise shots fired.
Without knowledge of Constable Goldfinch’s location, Constable Hunt exited the Police vehicle to assist his fellow officer. Constable Hunt took only a few steps before the offender returned from following Constable Goldfinch and shot Constable Hunt several times. Constable Hunt fell to the ground and made one final attempt to radio Police Comms. The offender retrieved a second firearm from his crashed vehicle and threatened a nearby resident, forcing her to drive him away from the scene in another vehicle. Constable Hunt died at the scene.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
IPENBURG, Mr Roland
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 24 October 2022, a car crashed into a ditch and rolled onto its passenger side on State Highway 1 near Kekerengu. The female driver was injured and trapped inside, while the injured passenger was able to escape onto the roadside. The vehicle caught fire and passing motorists moved the passenger away from the car when it ignited.
Mr Roland Ipenburg arrived at the scene and exited his vehicle. He saw Mr Ian Anderson using a fire extinguisher on the car, and was given a fire extinguisher by another motorist, which he emptied onto the fire. Flames were coming from the gap between the bonnet and windscreen and were only temporarily supressed by the extinguishers.
Mr Anderson entered the crashed car through the upturned rear passenger door and Mr Ipenburg held the door before following. They found the driver lying against the front passenger door. Mr Anderson and Mr Ipenburg attempted to lift the driver but were only able to roll her onto her right side. Mr Anderson was passed another fire extinguisher and deployed it within the cabin, seeing flames coming through the console. There was a burst of flame while they were in the vehicle, so Mr Anderson and Mr Ipenburg exited and began looking for more fire extinguishers. Flames were beginning to run up the clothing of the driver’s right leg. At this time, Senior Constable Andrew Watson was the first emergency responder to arrive at the scene.
Senior Constable Watson deployed his fire extinguisher to suppress the fire on the driver’s clothing. He lay on his stomach on the upturned side of the car, reaching into the vehicle through the rear door and managing to grasp the driver’s hand. Mr Anderson held Senior Constable Watson’s belt, so Watson could reach further into the vehicle without falling, with Mr Ipenburg grabbing Mr Anderson to assist. Together they tried to lift and pull the driver from the car, but Watson lost his grip. Senior Constable Watson’s attempts to reach the trapped driver proved impossible and Mr Anderson and Mr Ipenburg pulled him from the car due to the severity of the fire. Soon after Senior Constable Watson exited the vehicle, it was engulfed by fire.
Mr Ipenburg demonstrated exceptional bravery by entering the burning vehicle to attempt to rescue the trapped driver.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
JONES, Mr Noel George
Citation
On the morning of 1 May 2020, a woman was set alight by her tenant while she was in her parked car on the driveway of her Auckland home. The offender poured petrol to intensify the fire as the woman moved from the burning vehicle onto the grass verge separating her driveway from that of her neighbour, Mr Noel Jones.
Mr Jones had awoken to the woman’s screaming and, seeing the woman and car on fire, grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran across to her property. He extinguished the fire on the woman before attempting to extinguish the burning car. The car fire was too intense, so Mr Jones retreated and asked another neighbour to call emergency services, before returning to the woman. The offender had reappeared from the woman’s house and approached her with a knife. Mr Jones tried to intervene and reason with him, but the offender ignored him and attacked the woman. Mr Jones tried to hold the offender’s arms and protect the victim, but the offender was too strong and inflicted a serious cut on the woman before returning inside the house.
Mr Jones, noting the woman’s severe injuries and wanting to get her to safety, returned to his house and opened his garage door. He got the woman to move towards the garage and grabbed a gardening fork for protection. The woman fell and was unable to reach the garage. Mr Jones positioned himself between the woman and her driveway in case the offender returned. Mr Jones remained there until firefighters arrived and tended to the woman, who later died at the scene from her injuries.
Mr Jones demonstrated exceptional bravery in confronting an armed man and intervening when the man attacked the already injured woman with a knife, in an attempt to prevent further harm and remove the woman to safety.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
MILLER-ANDREWS, Ms Vanessa
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 10 May 2021, a man with a short kitchen knife in each hand attacked a staff member at a supermarket in central Dunedin, causing multiple wounds as she tried to defend herself. Several shoppers and staff in the busy supermarket attempted to restrain the offender during his frenzied attack, which occurred in little over a minute, with four people in total sustaining stab wounds.
Ms Vanessa Miller-Andrews was shopping with her husband, Mr Jorge Fuenzalida, at the time of the incident. They heard a scream and went to investigate. They discovered the offender struggling with two staff members and moved to assist. One of the staff members was stabbed several times. During the struggle, Mr Fuenzalida tried to disarm the offender and was stabbed and thrown to the ground.
Ms Miller-Andrews tried to drag Mr Fuenzalida away and was grabbed by the offender, who stabbed her twice. The offender then approached Mr Fuenzalida on the floor and stabbed him again. Ms Miller-Andrews attempted to cover Mr Fuenzalida to protect him and received further stab wounds. Mr Fuenzalida, despite his injuries, continued to intervene and was attacked again. While the offender attacked Mr Fuenzalida, two off-duty Police officers and other members of the public intervened to restrain the offender. Uniformed Police then arrived to arrest the offender.
Ms Miller-Andrews acted without hesitation to intervene in the struggle when Mr Fuenzalida was stabbed, demonstrating exceptional bravery in her attempts to prevent further harm and receiving life-threatening injuries as a result of her actions.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
TOMLINSON, Mr Ross Elliott
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 3 September 2021, a man, who had been under intense Police surveillance, entered a supermarket in New Lynn, Auckland and acquired a large kitchen knife, which he used to indiscriminately attack people across several aisles of the store. Within minutes, the offender caused significant injuries to five individuals and attempted to attack members of the public and staff who had barricaded themselves in a storeroom, before being fatally shot by Police officers.
Mr Ross Tomlinson was present in the supermarket at the time of the attack. He heard screams and saw shoppers rush out of the store. He witnessed the offender standing over a wounded woman on the floor. Mr Tomlinson, who had paramedic experience, moved towards the woman intending to assist, telling the offender to drop the knife. Other shoppers joined Mr Tomlinson in attempting to distract the offender.
The offender swung his knife at other shoppers who had gotten closer to him before moving towards Mr Tomlinson. Mr Tomlinson grabbed a stanchion for protection from the supermarket counter area. Mr Tomlinson and other shoppers followed the offender to keep him distracted, using stanchions and trolleys to maintain distance and barriers. The shoppers retreated to either end of an aisle, with the offender in the middle, his attention split between the groups. At this time, two Police officers arrived to confront the offender, who was subsequently fatally shot. Mr Tomlinson then used his paramedic experience to assist the wounded with first aid.
The New Zealand Bravery Decoration:
WATSON, Mr Andrew Ian (Andy)
New Zealand Police
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 24 October 2022, a car crashed into a ditch and rolled onto its passenger side on State Highway 1 near Kekerengu. The female driver was injured and trapped inside, while the injured passenger was able to escape onto the roadside. The vehicle caught fire and passing motorists moved the passenger away from the car when it ignited.
As the fire intensified, members of the public attempted to extinguish it, with two men entering the car to attempt to free the driver prior to the arrival of emergency services. Mr Andy Watson (then Senior Constable) was the first emergency responder to arrive at the scene. Senior Constable Watson saw the driver lying trapped in the front passenger side of the vehicle, with flames beginning to run up the clothing on her leg.
Senior Constable Watson used his fire extinguisher to suppress the fire on the driver’s clothing. He lay on his stomach on the upturned side of the car, reaching as far as he could into the vehicle through the rear door and managed to grasp the driver’s hand, which had sustained burns. Two other motorists held Watson by his belt, so he could reach further into the vehicle without falling. Together they tried to lift and pull the driver from the car, but Watson lost his grip. He tried again, attempting to reach the driver’s other arm as well, but she was unable to move it due to her injuries.
At this time, the fire was burning through the console of the vehicle. Senior Constable Watson’s attempts to reach the trapped driver proved impossible and the other motorists pulled him from the car due to the severity of the fire. Soon after Senior Constable Watson exited the vehicle, it was engulfed by fire.
Senior Constable Watson demonstrated exceptional bravery in his attempt to rescue the trapped driver, suffering secondary burns to his arm as a result.