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Aramoana massacre

SOLVED1990Aramoana, near Dunedin, New Zealand3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

The Aramoana massacre was a mass shooting on 13 November 1990 in Aramoana, a small seaside township northeast of Dunedin, New Zealand. An unemployed local resident, aged 33, killed 13 people and wounded three others before police fatally shot him the following day. At the time it was the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand's history, a record it held until the Christchurch mosque shootings of 15 March 2019.

The attack began at about 7:30 p.m. after the man confronted his next-door neighbour, Garry Holden, over one of Holden's daughters. He retrieved a semi-automatic rifle, shot Holden, killed two children sheltering in Holden's house, and set the house on fire. He then fired along the township's only road, targeting residents who had stopped to help at the burning house, and entered several homes. Thirteen people were killed, among them six children, and three others were wounded.

The first armed officer to reach Aramoana was Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, officer in charge of the Port Chalmers police station, who was fatally shot after challenging the gunman in the dark; New Zealand's front-line police do not routinely carry firearms. As night fell, Armed Offenders Squad units sealed off the township, and the Commissioner of Police authorised the Anti-Terrorist Squad, later renamed the Special Tactics Group, to travel to Dunedin. Supported by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Iroquois helicopter, police searched the township house by house over the following day.

On the evening of 14 November, the gunman emerged from a crib, or holiday cottage, firing from the hip and was struck by police gunfire. He died in an ambulance while being taken to a Dunedin hospital, bringing the total number of dead, including him, to fourteen. Police recovered several firearms from the crib, and forensic analysis attributed a number of the deaths and injuries to a Norinco semi-automatic rifle.

Several people received bravery awards, including a posthumous George Cross for Sergeant Guthrie and a George Medal for Eva Helen Dickson, a resident who crawled to a telephone to call emergency services. The massacre prompted national debate about gun control and led directly to a 1992 amendment to New Zealand's firearms legislation, which tightened controls and created a military-style semi-automatic category. The events were later the subject of books, a 1997 documentary, and the 2006 feature film Out of the Blue.

Key facts

Victims
Dion Raymond Jack Percy, Ross James Percy, Aleki Tali, Victor James Crimp, Simon Christopher Cole, Leo Wilson, Jasmine Amber Holden, Vanessa Grace Percy, Chiquita Holden, Garry John Holden, Magnus "Tim" Jamieson, Stewart Graeme Guthrie, Stacey Percy, Rewa Ariki Bryson, James Alexander Dickson
Date
1990
Location
Aramoana, near Dunedin, New Zealand
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1990-11-13

    A local resident shot and killed 13 people and wounded three others in Aramoana after a dispute with a neighbour, setting a victim's house on fire during the attack.

  2. 1990-11-14

    Police located the gunman, who was fatally shot as he emerged firing and died in an ambulance; including him, 14 people were dead.

  3. 1992

    New Zealand amended its firearms legislation, tightening controls and creating a military-style semi-automatic firearms category.

  4. 1997

    Bryan Bruce's documentary In Cold Blood examined the killings and the events leading up to them.

  5. 2006-09-12

    The feature film Out of the Blue, based on the massacre, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

  6. 2018-02

    Relatives sold Sergeant Stewart Guthrie's George Cross to Lord Ashcroft.

  7. 2019-03-15

    The Christchurch mosque shootings surpassed Aramoana as the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand's history.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Paul Alan Knox

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Detective among the first responders

  • Dion Raymond Jack Percy

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 6

  • Ross James Percy

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 42

  • Aleki Tali

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 41

  • Victor James Crimp

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 71

  • Simon Christopher Cole

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 62

  • Leo Wilson

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 6

  • Jasmine Amber Holden

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 11; daughter of Garry Holden

  • Vanessa Grace Percy

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 26

  • Stephen Vaughan

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Wellington detective; wounded during the operation

  • Chiquita Holden

    VICTIM

    Wounded; aged 9; daughter of Garry Holden

  • Garry John Holden

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 38

  • Magnus "Tim" Jamieson

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 69

  • Stewart Graeme Guthrie

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 41; Port Chalmers police sergeant and first armed responder

  • Russell Anderson

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Constable who assisted Sergeant Guthrie during the response

  • Stacey Percy

    VICTIM

    Wounded; aged 3; daughter of Ross and Vanessa Percy

  • Rewa Ariki Bryson

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 11

  • James Alexander Dickson

    VICTIM

    Killed; aged 45

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Aramoana, near Dunedin, New Zealand

-45.7775, 170.7033

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
A November 1990 mass shooting in the New Zealand township of Aramoana in which a local resident killed 13 people and wounded three others before police fatally shot him the next day.
Where did the massacre happen?
Aramoana, near Dunedin, New Zealand.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in New Zealand

Sources

  1. Aramoana massacrewikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. Dunedin City Council cemeteries and cremations search recordgov · Dunedin City Council · 2026-07-05
  3. New Zealand Police — Armed Offenders Squadgov · New Zealand Police · 2026-07-05

Last verified JUL 2026