Statement of Police Commissioner Richard Chambers
It’s with a heavy heart that I announced that a Police officer has been killed following an incident in Nelson in the early hours of this morning.
At just after 2am this morning, two police officers were on a routine foot patrol in Buxton Square carpark in Nelson when completely unprovoked, a vehicle drove towards them, at speed, hitting both of them.
Both officers were transported to Nelson Hospital in a critical condition, and it is here that one of the officers has sadly succumbed to her injuries sustained in the incident.
She was Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming. A widely respected police officer with 38 years front line service. She was also a loved and cherished, daughter, mother, wife and valued member of the wider Nelson community.
Lyn was a beautiful soul and her death will be felt across the Nelson community and our Police family.
Her injured colleague, Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay, also a very senior and experienced officer with 16 years’ service. He remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Two members of the public were also injured in this incident. Both are reported to be stable. One other Police officer was assessed and discharged from hospital.
The driver of the vehicle was tasered and then arrested at the scene. The 32-year-old man is due to appear in Nelson District Court this Friday and will be charged with serious criminal offences.
Police officers immediately tried to perform first aid acting admirably in what was an incredibly dynamic and dangerous situation. Members of the public were present and attempted to assist our staff. I thank them for this.
Lyn and Adam, like so many of our officers were working on New Years Eve to keep people safe on a night intended for celebration. It fills me with great sadness that their efforts to do so have ended in a senseless act that has taken the life of one of our colleagues and seriously injured another. My absolute priority is to ensure our people and their families are supported as best they can be, during this difficult time.
A Police investigation is underway as we seek to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.
Lyn’s family has come into a new year with the worst possible scenario. We are wrapping support around our staff. I know that officers and Police staff across the country will be feeling this loss, as Senior Sergeant Fleming was their colleague and a part of our police family.
Police do not expect there to be any further updates today.
I can assure you there was provocation. People simply do not mow other people down unless they were extreamly provoked Police by consent.
Wonder if the accused will receive the same sort of leniency Richard Mathew Coburn received in June 2024 during sentencing, where “Justice” Mary Peters ruled a (unjust) manslaughter outcome for the violent death of Paige Tutemahurangi, where Coburn claimed he did not intend to beat Tutemahurangi to death in his sustained and brutal attack.
New Zealand’s justice system has been hijacked by woke progressives. If the perpetrator is “white trash”, he will be treated with the scorn deserved of any cretin. Should this degenerate be of Maori descent, mystical excuses of colonial interference leading to trauma to criminal behavior will be tabled and will influence judgement. The Woke Mind Virus and it’s self serving activists within NZ’s ecosystem result in illogic being the norm
Reminds me of the vicious beatings suffered by the elderly and innocent at the hands of the police during the peaceful protests at parliament.
When a normal person is murdered the media coverage of the victim is quite usually not anymore than their name,but when a member of authority gets murdered they go on and on how wonderful they are
Sorry to hear this has happened in the New Year. Awful for this lady’s family. I do think New Zealand is slowly falling apart and is not the society it once was.