A police base was set up near the scene of the attack on several diners. Photo: RNZ / Rayssa Almeida
A community on Auckland's North Shore is still shaken and on edge after diners in three restaurants were attacked on Monday night.
The offender allegedly began swinging an axe at customers in the vicinity on Corinthian Drive in Albany. Three people were injured, and two were still in hospital on Tuesday night.
The owner of one of the restaurants said his staff were shaken up. He was not expecting them back at work for some time, and was helping to get them support.
"The most important thing is the staff who were working during the night, they were panicking. I believe they won't be working for quite a while."
He was concerned his business would suffer too, not knowing when his restaurant could reopen.
"I don't think in the short-term people will come out for dining and eating, just in case, because of what happened last night."
Some residents believed they had had a lucky escape. Peter Chan said he was dining at one of the restaurants in the area just hours before the attack.
"It's definitely shocking, because like, I wasn't here during the incident that happened around eight, but I was having dinner at six."
Upper Harbour Local Board member Sylvia Yang had been speaking with the community, and said everyone was on edge.
"The community overall in general are all very shaken up, people are angry as well, there are very mixed emotions out there."
Business North Harbour's Ben Yang said there will be extra security in the area over the week.
"We arranged with our security company to put on much more patrols, not only where the incident happened, but also around that area. They are going to pay extra attention and have more patrols through the night."
He said support was available for everyone involved.
The accused appeared in court on Tuesday charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was granted interim name suppression and did not enter a plea.