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SYDNEY - Four people Sydney detectives want to speak to in connection with the death of New Zealand student Samuela Ekevati have failed to come forward.
Mr Ekevati, aged 18, died from a chest wound after he was shot in front of two cousins in the Kings Cross red-light district early on January 6.
A New South Wales police spokesman said yesterday that the inquiry was "going along well," but detectives still wanted to interview two men, aged 25 and 35.
Police issued descriptions of the men, believed to live in the Kings Cross area, immediately after the 5.45 am shooting and said one of them had been armed with a pistol.
They also wanted to speak to a woman who was drinking with the two men in the two hours before the incident, and to a taxi driver who might be able to corroborate information given by three witnesses to the shooting.
"Despite the fact that we have let it be known that we are looking for these people, they have not come forward," the spokesman said.
"But the investigation is moving forward."
Police say Mr Ekevati and his cousins became involved in a brawl with two men at a hotel, with staff having to intervene.
He and his cousins then went up the road, where the fight resumed.
One of the two men allegedly pulled out a pistol and, in front of about 30 others, fired two shots before running off.
Mr Ekevati - who was born and grew up in the Hutt Valley, and went to Naenae College before studying engineering at Wellington Polytechnic - went to Sydney late last year and was staying with an uncle.
His body was flown back to New Zealand last Thursday and he was buried the next day in the Hutt Valley suburb of Taita.
- NZPA
Witnesses to killing lie low
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