The government has banned all military style semi-automatics and other deadly guns.Deputy Chief Coroner Brigitte Windley. Gun violence is rare in New Zealand, which tightened its gun laws after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019 in the country's worst peacetime mass shooting. Maurane Mifort-Paon, a 18-year-old tourist from France, said: "At first I was kind of worried but when I saw how the police were everywhere, it was very reassuring."Ī FIFA Fan Festival event just a few blocks from the shooting was delayed.Īuckland Mayor Wayne Brown said that the shooting was not in any way related to the World Cup. Several streets in Auckland were cordoned off, all ferry services into the city were cancelled and buses were asked to detour in some areas of the city. "All seems calm, and we are preparing as normal for the match tonight," Norway captain Maren Mjelde told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang during the police operation.Īn Italy training session was delayed as players could not get out of their hotel, while the United States team said that all its players and staff had been accounted for and were safe.ĭouglas Emhoff, the husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris who is leading the presidential delegation to New Zealand for the opening ceremony of the World Cup, is safe, the US embassy said. The shooting took place near the Norwegian team hotel in downtown Auckland, and several players took to social media to report that they were safe. In the two opening World Cup matches on Thursday, Norway plays New Zealand in Auckland while Australia faces Ireland in Sydney. "The participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place." "FIFA has been informed that this was an isolated incident that was not related to football operations and the opening match tonight at Eden Park will proceed as planned," FIFA said in a statement to Reuters. There is nothing to suggest that he has presented a higher-level risk than was indicated by that history," Coster said.įootball teams from New Zealand, Norway, Italy, the United States, Vietnam and Portugal were known to be in the city when the shooting occurred. "The individual is known for primarily family violence history. The gunman was the subject of a sentence of home detention but had an exemption to work at the site. After reaching the upper levels he contained himself within an elevator shaft and fired more shots before being found dead a short time later. He was armed with a pump-action shotgun and moved through a building site shooting. The gunman has not been formally identified but is believed to be a 24-year-old male who was employed at the construction site where the shooting occurred, Coster said at a news conference. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said that an officer had been injured in the shooting, as well as four members of the public. There would be no change to New Zealand's security threat level although there would be an increased police presence in the city, he said.Īuckland has welcomed thousands of international players and tourists for the ninth Women's World Cup which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. "There was no identified political or ideological motivation for the shooting and therefore no national security risk," Hipkins said during a televised media briefing. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the football tournament would proceed as planned, adding that the shooting appeared to be the actions of an individual and that police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident. AUCKLAND: At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and five others wounded in a shooting in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland on Thursday (Jul 20), hours ahead of the opening match of the FIFA Women's World Cup in the city.
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