New Zealand shooting: Two killed in Auckland hours before start of World Cup

Football tournament goes ahead after 24-year-old man opened fire at building site near players' hotel

Armed police near the site of the shooting in Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday. Reuters

Two people were killed in a shooting in Auckland on Thursday, just hours before New Zealand city hosted the first Women's World Cup match.

A man armed with a shotgun opened fire at a central Auckland building site in what police called an “alarming incident”.

The gunman was found dead after a police shoot-out, during which an officer was shot and wounded. Four civilians were also injured.

The shooting happened near hotels where Team Norway and other football teams were staying.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the gunman was a 24-year-old who had previously worked at the building site, and his motive appeared to be connected to his work there.

He had a history of family violence and was serving a home detention sentence, but had an exemption to work at the Lower Queen Street site, Mr Coster said.

The shooting began at about 7.20am, and police soon swarmed the area.

The shooter moved through the unfinished building firing at people, Mr Coster said, as many workers fled or hid. He then barricaded himself in a lift shaft on the third floor, Mr Coster said, where armed officer engaged him after securing the floors above and below.

“The offender fired at police, injuring an officer,” Mr Coster. He added that “shots were exchanged” before the gunman was found dead.

“This is a scary situation for Aucklanders on their Thursday morning commute to work,” Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said in a tweet. “Please stay at home, avoid travel into the city centre.”

The shooting on one of the busiest streets of the city centre came hours before the opening match of the ninth Women's World Cup at Eden Park in Auckland.

New Zealand Prime Minster Chris Hipkins said the Fifa tournament would go ahead as scheduled. There was heightened security at the opening game and a minute's silence was observed before the home team went on to beat Norway.

Mr Hipkins said the man was armed with a shotgun, adding that police arrived within minutes of the first emergency call and ran into harm's way to save lives.

“These kinds of situations move fast, and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic,” Mr Hipkins said.

New Zealand has tight gun laws, imposed in 2019 after the country's worst mass shooting prompted a sea change in attitudes towards guns. A shooter killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers in March of that year.

The prime minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern, vowed to ban most semi-automatic weapons within a month and she succeeded, with only a single member of Parliament voting against the ban.

A subsequent buyback scheme saw gun owners hand over more than 50,000 weapons to police in exchange for cash.

Mr Coster said the shotgun used in Thursday's shooting is not on the list of banned weapons.