A person was seriously injured during a robbery at a Christchurch dairy this morning.
Officers were called to a report of robbery and assault at a business address on Opawa Rd shortly before 7am.
A police spokesperson said they responded immediately, however the offenders had already fled the scene in a vehicle.
"One person received serious injuries. Inquiries are ongoing to locate the alleged offenders," the police spokesperson said.
It followed at least four reported aggravated robbery incidents across Christchurch on Sunday, with three of those committed within the span of an hour.
Earlier, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill told Breakfast there had been an "increase in this offending" recently.
"We are concerned about it and we want to get on top of it as quickly as we can," he said.
"I can say that our team did a fantastic job on Sunday and quickly apprehended the offenders for the three aggravated robberies in the morning."
Hill said some of the offenders were just 13 years of age.
"It's a concerning age, and while youth offending is not new, we are alarmed that they seem to be getting younger and younger."
Asked what could be driving the activity, he said international trends, and social media, can play a role.
"The age-old showing off to mates is a factor in this, but we're very keen to get in front of this as quickly as we can."
He said youth offending was "not unique to Christchurch".
"We are doing a lot and really joined up across our Government organisations, we have good support in terms of non-government agencies that support us," he said.
"It's a complex scenario and we just encourage people to do their part. There's a part for community, and there's a part for families as well. But we'll continue to do our part."
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