Auckland student bruised and terrified after daylight attack

A university student who suffered facial bruising in a random assault at Auckland city bus stop says she was left ‘terrified’.

“It was absolutely terrifying, I was in shock, I didn’t know what had happened,” says fourth-year AUT student Chantel Anderson.

The forceful assault left Anderson with minor injuries and she says the ‘freak attack’ has made her afraid of using public transport and being in the city center.

She was waiting for the bus on Auckland’s Symonds Street when a member of the public came up behind her and punched her in the jaw.

Some students rushed to help her, but the perpetrator was gone, and she says her “head was pounding”.

The attacker was only identified as a middle-aged woman.

“We shouldn’t have to be scared in broad daylight just trying to go about our day,” she said.

Anderson reported the attack to the police as random acts of violence are rising in Auckland.

Police statistics show a 28% increase in community crime from January 2021 to January 2023. From March 2022, there have been more than 4,600 acts intended to cause injury to date across the city.