Auckland home invasion: Gunmen who shot pair in legs in Manurewa retribution attack remain at large

Police are still hunting for the group of armed gang members who burst into a Manurewa home at the weekend and shot two men while a third escaped over a fence under a hail of gunfire.

Two men in the Oratu Pl home were beaten then shot point blank in their legs after a group of what witnesses said were 10 to 20 people clad in black burst into the home about 4.30am Sunday.

Police said on Tuesday no arrests have been made and the investigation by Counties Manukau CIB continues. Both victims remain in a stable condition, police said.

Detectives and forensic specialists at the property. Photo / Alex Burton

A relative of the men told the Herald he believed their legs were targeted so the wounds would not be fatal, in the style of a gangland kneecapping.

The attack is understood to have been in retaliation for an incident in the days prior, but people close to the men would not be drawn on the nature of that incident.

According to a relative of the men who lived nearby, and another neighbour familiar with the events, the group of Black Power members numbered between 10 and 20. The relative and witness did not want to be named.

The home and its surroundings became the subject of a major police inquiry on Sunday morning, as forensic specialists worked with detectives. Photo / Alex Burton

The relative of the victims said the group held down his uncle, gave him a beating then shot him in both thighs with a .22 calibre rifle. His cousin was shot in the shin and was less badly injured than his uncle, who was bleeding profusely.

The relative said the nature of the attack, and where the men were shot, suggested the assailants were not shooting to kill.

“Beat him up first, then held him and shot him.”

Both men who were shot were taken to Middlemore Hospital. The relative said another of his uncles escaped down a driveway.

The men shot at him four or five times as he clambered over a fence to escape but he was not hit. The relative said he had picked up several .22 shell casings.

He described feeling sick when he went into the house and saw his uncle, who had been shot in the thighs and was bleeding profusely.

Police guard the scene of the shooting at Oratu Pl, Manurewa, on Sunday morning. Photo / Alex Burton

He said his uncle repeatedly asked for a glass of water while he was covered in blood waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Another relative of the victims said the nan who lived at the property, and who was shaken but unhurt, was much loved by the family and doted on her mokopuna.

A neighbour said he heard at least six gunshots.

He went outside to see the attackers clad in black in the driveway pursuing and shooting at the man who managed to escape over the fence.

The morning after the shooting, armed officers stood guard outside the home as detectives and forensic experts made extensive inquiries at the scene.