Mr Ron Andrew, of Mosgiel, NZBM for an act of bravery
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. The store manager Mr Ron Andrew was working an office upstairs at the time of the incident. He heard screaming and headed downstairs to the pharmacy aisle where he was passed by a staff member who said he had been stabbed. Mr Andrew then saw other colleagues and members of the public struggling with the offender. Mr Andrew called emergency services while attempts were made to restrain the offender. Two off-duty Police officers assisted by others had pinned the offender to the ground while he continued to struggle. Mr Andrew held the offender’s legs to stop him kicking out. While repositioning, Mr Andrew was kicked in the knee which knocked him over. He got back to his feet and noticed the offender had let go of one of the knives. Mr Andrew kicked the knife away, before picking it up and handing it to uniformed Police when they arrived to arrest the offender. Mr Andrew demonstrated bravery in joining the struggle with the offender without hesitation and helped prevent further harm by removing a knife from the situation, after having been knocked over trying to restrain the offender.