A Hamilton mother worries for the safety of her family and the public, after her son was attacked outside his high school.
The Fraser High School student was heading to his car during the school's lunchbreak on Monday. The car was parked on the main road outside the school grounds, when he was confronted by "two carloads of men wearing balaclavas".
Mother Lady-Joe TangataTerekia told RNZ the two vehicles circled the area, before her son was smashed and stabbed several times.
"There's six of them that tried to abduct him," she said.
"He put his hand in his pocket, and then he just felt all this punching to his face and they were trying to pull him into [a vehicle].
"It just happened so fast that he didn't even know he had been stabbed several times. I think the blood was coming through his shirt and then his mate said, 'Oh, look, you've got stab wounds'."
Police were called to Waimarie Street at about 12.45pm.
The boy underwent surgery for a perforated colon and was discharged from hospital on Friday afternoon, but TangataTerekia said the outcome could have been more severe — or even fatal.
"Just imagine if he [was stabbed in] his chest — it could have been an instant death. I couldn't imagine losing any of my babies, they're my world."
He was recovering well, she said, but experiencing anxiety — abnormal for him.
She described her son as a gentle, 1.93m (6ft 4in) "island boy", who would rather de-escalate than pick a fight.
"I think the biggest shock really is [my son] only turned 16, he is one of the biggest softies. His love language is physical touch. so he's such a big teddy, lovable teddy bear, he's just such a lover - and he was at church school that morning."
Police said the investigation into the assault remained ongoing and they were making positive enquiries. At this stage, it was being treated as an assault alone and not a kidnapping.
The whānau of 11 tamariki were completely shocked. TangataTerekia kept two of her young teenagers at home last week, because she feared they too would be targeted.
Her older sons were flying over from Australia to support the family.
"I feel a bit fearful of what if you don't know what the intention was... did they come to do what they needed to do?"
She was reaching out to anyone who may have witnessed the attack or had any information.
In a post on Facebook, she wrote: "If you are involved, or if you know something, please understand that we are an open, loving whānau — if there's something to be sorted or a misunderstanding, we're open to kōrero and understand.
"The sad thing for me is it's our own people. We've already gone through enough, but yet we're trying to kill each other off.
"The biggest thing for me is it's about love, and it's about being kind, and it's about building each other and lifting each other as a community, as a people."
By Emma Andrews of rnz.co.nz
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