NEWS

A man who shot at armed robbers holding up his dairy says he will not hesitate to pull his air pistol again if he and his wife are threatened.

Police cannot rule out charging the Christchurch shop owner, who claims he hit one of the masked men in the face, but say it is not being considered as they focus on catching the robbers.

"We can't say 100 per cent it's never going to happen," Detective Anita Paterson told the Herald.

She added: "We would be more than happy if the [robbers] would like to come forward and make a complaint".

Nike, a Chinese immigrant, said he felt he had to use the air pistol to save his life, and that of his wife, Niec, after the "animals" burst into his dairy on Monday night - one waving a long knife in a chopping motion at him.

There was no time to try to reason with the men, whose faces were covered with blue bandannas.

"I am very sure I have done ... the right thing," he said.

"Let the public judge if it is right or if it is wrong. We are good people. If my wife is here, I would do everything to protect my wife."

Nike said he was acting on instinct, while dodging the swinging knife, when his wife reached under the counter for the pistol and handed it to him.

He fired five or six times, before the pistol's magazine fell out, and believes most of the shots hit the men.

"They try to kill you from the very start. The shooting worked. It successfully stopped the next step to hurting us."

The second man began panicking, and Nike's wife started throwing whatever she could reach at them, including a hand-held phone.

One of the men grabbed the till off the counter before the pair fled.

The local community have rallied behind Nike and his wife since the robbery. Customers have praised Nike for his actions and brought in gifts.

One customer even installed security cameras in the shop free of charge.

Nike got the air pistol in after the fatal shooting of Manurewa liquor store owner Navtej Singh in June.

While police's response time in that case was questioned, Nike was full of praise for how quickly police got to his dairy after the robbery.

Ms Paterson said there was a risk that in pulling the air pistol the situation could have been worse, and police did not encourage such actions.