Sergeant Stewart Graeme Guthrie

On 13 November 1990 at Aramoana (a small township near Dunedin), a man ran amok with a firearm killing 12 people and wounding many more.

Sergeant Guthrie, the sole duty officer at Port Chalmers Police Station, went immediately to the resort. When he arrived he gathered together another police constable and both of them (now armed) went after the gunman. They finally located him inside his house, so the police constable took position at the front of the house whilst Sergeant Guthrie took position at the rear of the property; the more dangerous of the two positions. During this time, Sergeant Guthrie had kept his control fully informed of the latest situation.

The gunman then left the house by the front entrance and went towards the police constable. When challenged by this officer, the gunman retreated back into the house. Meanwhile, Sergeant Guthrie had taken cover in a cottage next to the gunman's house. Suddenly the gunman appeared out of the rear of the house. Sergeant Guthrie challenged the gunman, and fired a shot into the air. The gunman responded by firing a series of shots, which killed Sergeant Guthrie.

Sergeant Guthrie was posthumously awarded the George Cross. The citation was published in the London Gazette on 18 February 1992.