The perpetrator of the shooting that killed two people in central Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city, on the opening day of the Women’s World Cup last Thursday, in fact committed suicide, a national police spokesman announced on Monday.
The shooting, which occurred at a construction site, left two people dead in addition to the shooter.
The “self-inflicted” “deadly wound”
An autopsy of the latter, who was 24 years old, revealed injuries received during exchanges of fire with police officers, but a senior police official, Ross McKay confirmed that “his fatal wound” had been “self-inflicted”.
The police considered that the attack was not directly linked to the major football tournament, nor motivated by political or ideological considerations.
known to the police
The shooter was known to police and had a history of domestic abuse and mental health issues.
According to the police, he had been the subject of a house arrest order, but benefited from an exemption to work on the site where the shooting took place.
He did not have a firearms license. And according to police commissioner Andrew Coster, “there was no indication that he posed a very high level of risk”.
Four of those injured in the shooting are still recovering in hospital, including an officer “who will have a long way to go to recover”, Ross McKay added.