Two people have been killed and six injured after a shooting in Auckland city centre on Thursday morning, hours before the Women’s World Cup kicked off there.
The New Zealand prime minister, Chris Hipkins, said the gunman was also dead and there was no national security risk or increase to the national threat level. Visiting the scene on Thursday afternoon, he confirmed that that the World Cup would go ahead as planned and people should feel safe to attend the matches. He said the shooting was a “standalone incident”, but added that fans would see an enhanced police presences in and around sports venues.
In a televised speech on Thursday evening, Hipkins said the whole nation was in mourning. “The victims went to work this morning as they do every morning, but they won’t be coming home tonight,” he said. “The trauma of this event will still be significant.”
The shooting began at a building site on Queen Street, Auckland’s main thoroughfare, at about 7.20am, when police received reports of gunfire.
Police said the gunman, armed with a pump-action shotgun, moved through the building site firing and after reaching the upper levels “contained himself within the elevator shaft”.
“Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later,” police said.
A police officer was shot and injured by the gunman during an exchange of fire in a lift well, but is in a stable condition and is due to have surgery. The other people injured sustained moderate to serious injuries, police said.
The gunman has been identified as Matu Tangi Matua Reid, 24, who was working at the site and had a history of family violence. He was the subject of a home detention order but had an exemption to work at the site, the New Zealand police commissioner, Andrew Coster, said.
“The individual is known for primarily family violence history,” he said, adding that there were “indications of mental health history” but that there was no evidence Reid was of high lethal risk and that his previous offences had not suggested he posed this kind of threat. He did not have a firearms licence.
Hipkins said authorities were investigating how the gunman acquired a firearm and whether his behaviour suggested any red flags before the shooting. The Department of Corrections is reviewing its interactions with Reid.
The shooting came just hours before the opening match of the ninth Women’s World Cup at Eden Park in Auckland, which saw New Zealand, the co-host, beat Norway 1-0 in an upset. A moment of silence was observed before the match, and players wore black arm bands in honour of those who had died in the shooting. The city has welcomed thousands of international players and tourists for the event, which is being co-hosted by Australia.
Hipkins said he had spoken to Fifa organisers and the tournament would go ahead as planned. Police assured the public there was no continuing risk and no reason not to proceed. Fifa issued a statement saying it had been told the shooting was not related to football operations, so the opening match could “proceed as planned”.
Several streets in Auckland were cordoned off, all ferry services into the city cancelled, while buses running through some areas of the city were on detours.
The shooting took place near the Norwegian team hotel in downtown Auckland, and several players reported on social media that they were safe.
The Italian team’s training was delayed as players could not get out of their hotel, while the US team said all its players and staff were accounted for and safe.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who is to visit Wellington next week, offered condolences to Hipkins. “I’ve been in contact with Chris this morning about that. And that is very sad indeed to see another dreadful shooting with fatalities here in New Zealand,” he said.
Auckland’s mayor, Wayne Brown, told TVNZ the attack was dreadful. “It couldn’t have come at a worse time given the world has its eyes on us now with the Fifa soccer thing,” he said.
Gun violence is rare in New Zealand, which tightened its firearm laws after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019, the country’s worst peacetime mass shooting. The government banned all military style semi-automatics and similar weapons the same year.
The US forward Lynn Williams said the shooting was something she and her compatriots had dealt with “far too many times” in the US, where gun violence is common. “There was definitely a sense of, ‘Let’s come together’. We still have a job to do. But also recognising that there was lives lost and that is very real and very devastating,” said Williams.
With Reuters and AAP