By Samindra Kunti in Auckland
July 20 – A shooting downtown New Zealand’s capital, killing two, on the morning of the opening game of the Women’s World Cup between the co-hosts New Zealand and Norway overshadowed the big kickoff.
New Zealand waited years for this day, the curtain raiser of the Women’s World Cup, but instead the capital city woke up to the sound of gunshots and helicopters circling over the scene of a shooting that killed three, including the shooter.
The shooting took place in the city centre, a stone’s throw from the team hotels of Norway, who play later on Thursday, and the USA, who hours later boarded a bus to team training. The shooter stormed a building being renovated in Lower Queen St.
Norwegian captain Maren Mjelde said: “Everybody woke up quickly when helicopters were flying outside our hotel windows. A huge amount of police cars passed by. We felt safe the whole time. FIFA has a good security arrangement at the hotel and we have our own security.”
Passers-by and commuters heard a volley of gunshots during rush hour and armed police officers and vehicles rushed to the scene, as authorities moved to shut down a part of the city. Authorities urged people to avoid the area and stay indoors. The mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown tweeted: “This is a scary situation for Aucklanders on their Thursday morning commute to work. Please stay at home, avoid travel into the city centre.”
Eight ambulances rushed to the scene and early reports suggested casualties as well as multiple injured people. “This incident unfolded after reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the site on lower Queen Street at around 7.22 am,” said police in a statement. “Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft and our staff have attempted to engage with him. Further shots were fired from the male and he was located deceased a short time later.”
New Zealand’s prime minister Chris Hipkins said that it was his understanding that there was no identified “political or ideological motivation”. The 24-year-old shooter was on home detention for domestic violence and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, according to the New Zealand Herald.
Hipkins and his government spoke to FIFA and the tournament will proceed as planned with the opening day seeing both co-hosts in action. In a statement, FIFA said that “the participating teams in close proximity to this incident are being supported in relation to any impact that may have taken place.”
In two days’ time, the defending world champions the USA open their campaign against Vietnam. “Regarding the incident in downtown Auckland, all of our USWNT players and staff are accounted for and safe,” said US Soccer in a statement. “Our security team is in communication with local authorities and we are proceeding with our daily schedule.”
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