A 32-year-old man was arrested over the incident shortly after it happened, at about 2 a.m. local time. He was charged with eight criminal counts, including murder, attempted murder, assault using a vehicle as a weapon and driving while disqualified.

The other officer struck by the car was in serious condition but was expected to make a full recovery, Chambers said. A third officer who was in the rammed police car received a concussion and two members of the public were hurt, one of them after coming to help the injured officers.

Chambers condemned the “senseless act of an individual who appears to have been determined to cause harm,” although he did not suggest a motive.

Police forensic officers photograph the scene at Buxton Square where a police officer was killed after a driver ran her and colleague down as they patrolled on foot in the early hours of New Year’s Day, in Nelson, New Zealand, on Jan. 1, 2025. (Braden Fastier/Stuff via AP)

“There was, at this stage, no indication that was what about to occur, occurred,” Chambers said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell told reporters the officers were “targeted in what I consider a very cowardly attack.” It was a “devastating day” for police and for the country, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote on X.

The attack happened in a downtown area of Nelson — population 55,000 — close to the street where the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations had concluded two hours before.

Before Wednesday, the last killing of a police officer on duty in New Zealand was in 2020, when an officer was shot by a fleeing driver. 33 other officers have died through criminal acts while on duty since 1890, according to police records.

Fleming had been an officer for 38 years and was a long-serving netball coach at a local girls’ high school.

“She’s a mother, she’s a wife and she’s a well-known and highly respected member of the Nelson community,” Chambers said.

The man charged is due to appear in court on Friday. A murder conviction in New Zealand draws an automatic sentence of life in prison, with the presiding judge setting a non-parole period of at least 10 years.