The fatal stabbing of an Auckland dairy worker is being labelled a wake-up call for the Government, with a business leader declaring that a “sense of lawlessness is gripping the entire country”.

The worker, who friends described as polite and friendly, had relocated to Auckland from Hamilton only last week to look after the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham while its owners were overseas.

Police say he was stabbed several times 100m from the store after he confronted a thief who had stolen the cash register around 8pm on Wednesday.

The man, who was newly married and in his mid-30s, managed to make it back to the dairy, where emergency services were called, but died from his injuries.

Police last night were still hunting for the offender, who according to CCTV footage placed the cash register in a wheelie bin before the fatal attack and then took it with him afterwards.

Police released images of the attacker, who was dressed in a black shirt, black pants and a black hat, and wore a black and white bandana over his face.

Photo / Supplied via police

The man’s pants are believed to have white writing down the left leg and his cap is believed to say “Raiders”.

Police believe the man walked towards Sandringham’s Duncan Ave after the attack and they are calling on residents to provide CCTV footage if they have it.

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A friend of the killed worker told the Herald yesterday that his mate was very friendly and polite, and loved his wife.

The nightmare attack has left the tight-knit community near the dairy reeling.

Two hundred people gathered outside the dairy yesterday, with floral arrangements placed outside the store. A waiata was sung as a police cordon blocked the street.

Residents lay flowers at dairy targeted in the attack. Photo / Jed Bradley

The crowd was addressed by Dairy and Business Owners Association chairman Sunny Kaushal, who called the news “horrific”.

“Right now, our thoughts are with the family,” said Kaushal, as he spoke from the middle of the street.

He called the attack a “big shock”, saying it had left “us all numb with shock”.

“We lost one of us.”

“The Government has blood on its hands. [It] owes answers to the worker’s family.”

Flowers outside the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham. Photo / Dean Purcell

Kaushal, who represents 5000 business owners, said people across New Zealand told him “that a sense of lawlessness is gripping the entire country”.

“No one is feeling safe. The businesses are not safe, the workers are not safe at their work, the general public is not safe, even in shopping malls.”

But it wasn’t just business owners feeling shaken. A Sandringham resident who lives nearby said families, particularly those with children, would be more hesitant to go to the shop following the attack.

“When you live in a suburb like this, you don’t expect things like this to happen but the whole dynamic of Auckland is changing now,” the local told the Herald.

Nearby school Edendale Primary wrote on social media that students were struggling to process the event that occurred at an “iconic part” of their school community.

“We are a community in grief and shock and I ask we all support each other during this difficult time,” the school wrote.

“There will be a lot of children struggling to process this event, especially with the visible police presence in our neighbourhood and an offender still at large.”

Dairy and Business Owners Group chair Sunny Kaushal at the scene of the fatal stabbing attack. Photo / Jed Bradley

Sandringham neighbourhood watch co-ordinator John McCaffery said the dairy owners were a focal point of the community, always happy to help with events, but had also been a target for other crimes, such as graffiti and gang intimidation.

McCaffery claims he had been working with the owners since 2017 to get the police to install fog cannons and other security measures as a part of the Small Business Crime Prevention Fund, but had been turned down multiple times.

“That’s what really makes it very, very sad,” McCaffery said, “because, in our view, it was a life completely wasted.”

Police Minister Chris Hipkins has asked for an explanation from police why the dairy was not given support from a Government initiative to equip businesses with fog cannons to prevent robberies.

“Based on what I can see, that business should have qualified so I’ve asked for an explanation [from police] as to why they didn’t get a fog cannon,” he said.

The Government has regularly been criticised by the National and Act parties for not delivering stronger consequences to young offenders after a spate of ram raids and aggravated robberies this year.

The dairy is within Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s electorate and yesterday she acknowledged the family members of the man who was killed and said it was “devastating to see what has happened”.

Ardern said it was important to acknowledge the man’s family and make sure police are as well-supported as possible to ensure “justice is done”.

Asked whether she was soft on crime, Ardern said she had disagreed with that consistently and spoke of the long sentences possible for those who committed offences such as aggravated robberies.

It came after a social media post by the Prime Minister pledging the Government would make sure those responsible were brought to justice. “To the family who today mourns their lost loved one — I am so sorry this has happened,” she wrote.