Auckland shooting: Three dead and six wounded as gunman identified as Matu Reid

Three people are dead and six are injured after an Auckland shooting described by New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins as a “very grim morning”.

The shooter has been named as 24-year-old Matu Tangi Matua Reid, who is among the dead.

The NZ Herald reported that Reid was wearing an ankle monitor because he was serving a community-based home detention sentence for domestic violence.

He was sentenced in the Auckland District Court earlier in 2023 after admitting to charges of “impeding breathing, injuring with intent to injure, wilful damage, and male assaults female,” according to the newspaper.

Reid was sentenced to five months’ home detention on March 28.

While home detention generally requires offenders to remain at their approved address, there can be provisions allowing people to continue working at a designated workplace.

A woman at a property linked to Reid said she spoke to him before the shooting.

“He said he loved us and nothing really,” she said. “His phone went dead this morning. He was talking to us last night. Everything was all good last night.”

Police are among the injured in Reid’s attack on a building and construction site.

The shooting began outside a building on Queen St, Auckland’s main thoroughfare, about 7.20am when locals reported hearing gunfire.

Local media reported that Reid, who worked at the building, arrived with a pump-action shotgun.

Colleagues thought he was conducting a prank until he opened fire.

Police said he “moved through the building site and continued to discharge his firearm”.

“Upon reaching the upper levels of the building, the male has contained himself within the elevator shaft,” the police statement read.

“Further shots were fired from the male, and he was located deceased a short time later.”

Local television outlets broadcasted footage of workers on the roof of the building hiding behind packs of pre-mix cement.

Dozens of police vehicles, a helicopter and several ambulances scrambled to attend the site.

Mr Hipkins said he had “deep sorrow” for the two victims, who he understood were civilians and not police.

“I want to thank the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm’s way to save the lives of others,” he said.

“These kinds of situations move fast, and the actions of those who risked their lives are nothing short of heroic.”

Police said the incident was “understandably alarming” but contained and understood to be isolated.

Mr Hipkins said there would be no change to the country’s terror settings, and there was not believed to be a political or ideological motivation.

St John Ambulance confirmed six injuries, three serious and three moderate.

The incident occurred on the first day of the Women’s World Cup, with New Zealand set to play Norway in the tournament’s opening match at Eden Park, five kilometres south.

Mr Hipkins said there would be no change to the tournament schedule after government conversations with FIFA officials.

Norway is staying at a hotel near the shooting site.

The FIFA Fan Festival is also nearby, where former Kiwi international Maia Jackson spent her morning.

“It’s pretty scary actually ... there’s lots of security and uncertainty,” she told the NZ Herald.

Mayor Wayne Brown told TVNZ the attack was “dreadful”.

“It couldn’t have come at a worse time, given the world has its eyes on us now with the FIFA soccer thing,” he said.