Police were called at 4.08am to find a man lying dead on Peter Snell Rd in Ruakākā. Photo / Tania Whyte
Police have made two arrests as part of a homicide investigation in Ruakākā after 24-year-old Teina Pickering was found dead on Thursday.
Police were called to the incident around 4.08am, found a man lying on Peter Snell Rd and set up a cordon around the area while their investigation got under way.
A 29-year-old man appeared in Whangārei District Court yesterday.
He was placed into arrest on remand and is scheduled to return on Tuesday.
This morning, a second man, 28, was taken into custody and charged with offences involving weapons and firearms.
He is scheduled to appear tomorrow in Whangārei District Court.
Even though no one else is being sought at this time, police are still investigating Pickering’s death as a homicide and more charges are likely, Whangārei CIB Detective Inspector Al Symonds said.
According to a nearby neighbour, the man was believed to have been a victim of a hit-and-run.
The neighbour told the Northland Advocate she had spoken to the woman who tried to resuscitate the man after she heard a “loud bang” at 4am.
“She was definite by his injuries that he was not shot. It’s just horrible when something like this happens in the community.”
Another man who lives nearby recalled his wife waking up to the sounds of “yelling” and cars driving up and down the road.
With the scene of the crime only a few hundred metres away from a nearby police station, the neighbour said it would be good to have a more significant police presence.
“In the last couple of years, things have really gone downhill,” he said.
Traces of mercury chloride have been detected in white powder sold as MDMA in the region.