The threat is “contained”. A man opened fire in central Auckland, New Zealand’s second largest city, on Thursday in an “alarming” event that left three people dead including the suspected shooter and six injured, New Zealand police said.
The shooting coincides with the opening day of the FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. All Fifa staff and players staying in the city are safe, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has said.
In the process, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who succeeded Jacinda Ardern this year, indicated that the World Cup would go well as planned.
“New Zealand’s national security threat level is not changed,” Hipkins said, assuring “police have neutralized the threat and are not looking for anyone else in connection with” the shooting. “The government has discussed with the FIFA organizers and the tournament will take place,” he added.
Probable suicide of the shooter
“The perpetrator moved through the building” on a construction site while shooting “with his firearm,” Acting Police Commissioner Sunny Patel said. “Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the man locked himself in the elevator shaft and our staff attempted to engage him,” he added. “Further shots were fired by the man and he was found deceased a short time later,” he added.
Officers responded in “significant” numbers to the shooting and cordoned off the area, added police, who also deployed a helicopter. “What happened is obviously alarming and we reassure the public that the situation has been brought under control and this is an isolated incident,” the officer said.
Mass shootings are rare in New Zealand and sweeping gun laws were introduced after the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre in which 51 Muslim worshipers were killed and 40 others injured.