Hunt for killer of Omokoroa couple

Two people shot dead under the Wairoa Bridge were a couple from Omokoroa whose brutal deaths have sparked community fears that a gunman is on the loose.
But police today said there was no need for the public to be alarmed.
The bloodied bodies of a 42-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman, were found along with a silver Nissan Skyline under the Wairoa Bridge shortly before 7am yesterday by teenaged kayakers who were about to go training.
One body was slumped forward in the driver's seat of the vehicle, while a second body was lying face down on the gravel road, near the passenger's door. The scene is 15km north of Tauranga on State Highway 2.
The bodies were fully clothed. It is believed the car belonged to one of the victims.
Their names have not yet been released and police were still trying to contact the family of one of the pair. Speaking from nearby Wairoa Marae today, Karen Rahiri from Ngati Kahu said about 300 people live in the surrounding community and many were very worried about the prospect of a gunman being on the loose.
"It's a shock to the whole community this," he said.
"We had a bereavement here and buried the person on Sunday so we didn't know anything apart from [what was happening on] the marae because we had thousands of people here from all over."
Locals were devastated, he said.
The marae was going to host an event celebrating the Melbourne Cup today but it had now been cancelled after yesterday's discovery.
"When something like that happens the marae shuts down. Whoever was murdered down there, we have got to pay respect to the family that is living and shut everything down."
Once police investigations were complete, Karen Rahiri said local Maori would go down to the murder scene to say prayers and bless the area.
In response to the community concerns, inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner today said: "You can never be 100 per cent sure, but at this stage I believe it's a random incident and the residents in that area have nothing to fear."
His comments came as a specialist police dive squad was due to arrive this morning to scour a section of the Wairoa River in search of the firearm used in the slayings.
The five-strong Police National Dive Squad and Coastguard team were expected to begin their underwater search for a firearm about midday.
Leader of the Wellington-based team, Senior Sergeant Bruce Adams, said the divers would be working shoulder-to-shoulder near the riverside murder scene.
"It will be a slow and methodical search," Mr Adams said.
"If you've seen police searching on land in a line on their hands and knees, well that's what we will be doing in the water."
Tidal flows and visibility could determine how long the search takes.
Meanwhile, Mr Turner would not speculate on why the duo had been at the secluded site, which was well known for criminal activities.
"We are keeping an open mind," he said.
Mr Turner said the victims had been shot dead at the site and would be formally identified by fingerprints after a post mortem examination was completed in Auckland later today.
It was unclear whether drugs had been a factor in the murder but another vehicle was thought to have been seen in the area at the time.
"We are still trying to firm up details on this second vehicle," Mr Turner said.
Police would not reveal where the victims had been shot but have narrowed the time of the shooting to between 2-4am.
"We will be focusing on background inquiries to identify associates, movement and lifestyles of our two victims," Mr Turner said.
"It would appear as though people heard shots.
"Police were not contacted which, rightly or wrongly, is not unusual in rural areas in New Zealand these days."
A woman spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday said she heard two loud bangs a few seconds apart about 3am.
"They sounded like fireworks and I thought it was a strange time to be letting them off."
As police gathered on the river bank and began their thorough examination of the scene yesterday, heavy rain showers hampered their efforts.
The fire service and army were called in and helped erect tents to protect the scene from the wet weather.
Experts from Environmental Research and Science were called in to join 12 Tauranga detectives, who are expected to remain at the scene for the next three days.
The bodies, which the police Northern Communications Centre initially said yesterday were of two men, remained visible to passers-by for much of yesterday as police carried out a forensic examination of the scene.
The police team could be boosted from other detectives from neighbouring districts.
Mr Turner asked for anyone who was in the area or had travelled through it early yesterday morning to contact police at Tauranga police station or call 0800 SPEAK UP.