Deputy police commissioner Wally Haumaha is encouraging people to focus on supporting the grieving and injured as their immediate priority. He says this process is heavy enough without shifting the focus away too soon to issues like gun control which although important will follow in their proper time.
Haumaha acknowledged the aroha and heartfelt support that has been shown to all those affected by Friday's events.
"You know we're all affected by this and so it's a matter of all of us coming together and sharing the support for each other and sharing the aroha and love for our people."
He says the events are so "totally unprecedented in our history" and the effects so deep and affecting that it's only right that our immediate focus should be with those who still suffer.
Asked if he had any whakaaro on outlawing semi-automatic weapons, Haumaha told Te Ao, "No, I don't wish to talk about that part of the whole process. This part is heavy enough as it is."