Two killed in shooting as New Zealand city hosts World Cup opener

AFP | Auckland

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A gunman killed two people and wounded six others in central Auckland yesterday, hours before the New Zealand city hosted the opening match of the 2023 FIFA football World Cup.

A 24-year-old shooter tore through the waterfront construction site with a shotgun in the early morning, plunging the busy centre of New Zealand’s largest city into lockdown.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman also died at the scene and there was no national security threat, so the marquee tournament could go ahead as planned.

Police believe the attack was not directly linked to the World Cup, nor was it politically or ideologically motivated. But the gunman was known to police and said to have had a history of family violence and mental health issues.

Police said he had been subject to a home detention order but had an exemption to work at the site. He did not have a license to own a firearm. Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said there had been “nothing to suggest he presented a higher-level risk”.