Police say shooting and killing a man in a Tauranga hostage situation over the weekend was a last resort.
Police were called to the property in Bellevue just after midnight on Sunday night after a man who was known to police threatened his partner with a knife.
The woman managed to escape the house with one of her three children, while the other two were held hostage.
When police entered the property they found the man holding a large machete to the throat of one of the children.
The man had been holding the other two children at knifepoint inside the house for 14 hours.
The aggressor was shot by police and died at the scene.
Superintendent Andy McGregor said the event was an experience nobody should have to go through and is traumatising for everyone involved.
"He was behaving irrationally right throughout the day, he threatened a woman who had to leave the house throughout the night.
"It's sad, but there's no other option, we had to get those kids out of that house safely."
The Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.
