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At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and six others injured in a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, on Thursday, hours before the opening match of soccer’s Women’s World Cup kicks off in the city.
Premier Chris Hepkins said the football tournament would go ahead as planned, adding that the shooting appeared to be the act of an individual and that police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Police in New Zealand’s Auckland cordoned off parts of the city as they responded to a deadly shooting in the city centre. Authorities said at least two people were killed and several people wounded in the shooting at a construction site pic.twitter.com/ZLgSH8gsuW
Reuters July 19, 2023
“There was no specific political or ideological motive for the shooting, and therefore no national security risk,” Hipkins said during a televised media briefing.
He said there would be no change in the security threat level for New Zealand although there would be an increased police presence in the city.
Police said the Oakland shooter was armed with a pump shot handgun, moved across the building site and, after reaching the upper levels, “trapped himself inside an elevator shaft”. “Further shots were fired from the male and his death was located shortly after,” police said.
Auckland welcomed thousands of international players and tourists to the ninth Women’s World Cup tournament to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In Thursday’s opening matches, Norway play New Zealand in Auckland while Australia take on Ireland in Sydney.
The shooting took place near the Norwegian team’s hotel in downtown Auckland, and several players took to social media to report their safety.
“Everything seems calm and we are preparing as usual for the game tonight,” Norway captain Maren Myelde told Norwegian newspaper Verdnes Gang during the police operation.
The Italian team’s training has been delayed as players cannot exit the hotel, while the US team has said all its players and staff are accounted for and safe.
The US Embassy said Douglas Imhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris who is leading the presidential delegation to New Zealand for the World Cup opening ceremony, is safe.
Several streets in Auckland were cordoned off, all ferry services to the city were cancelled, and buses were required to detour around some areas of the city. The FIFA Fan Fest event just blocks from the shooting was also delayed.
“This appears to be the act of one individual. This was not a threat to national security and was not in any way connected to the FIFA Women’s World Cup event,” Mayor of Auckland Wayne Brown said in a statement.
Gun violence is rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshipers in Christchurch in 2019 in the country’s worst peacetime mass shooting.
The government banned all military semi-automatic weapons and other lethal weapons.
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