Two police officers are guarding the property where a person died in Northcote last night. Photo / Emma Russell
A man was heard screaming "help, help, help me" before police arrived at a North Shore, Auckland house to find two people seriously injured - one fatally.
Te Aroha Devon was walking on Akoranga Drive on last night when she heard someone screaming for help from a house.
"There was a gentleman across the road in the house, on the second floor who was yelling for help," said Devon, who was walking home from the nearby Auckland University of Technology campus.
"He was yelling 'Help, help, help me'. He would not say what was wrong," she said.
"There was an older gentleman on the ground outside looking up at him, pointing at him, trying to talk to him. I couldn't hear what he was saying.
"I think he was signalling him to hold on and to wait."
Police were called to the property after reports of an assault. When they arrived, they found two people injured, one critically. That person later died. The second person was taken to hospital.
"While this incident will be unsettling for the community, initial indications suggest the parties involved were known to each other," police said.
"Police are speaking with witnesses and working to understand the circumstances of this incident."
Another witness told the Herald at least 10 police cars were at the scene last night.
"There was at least three ambulances earlier, but there are two here now and a manager."
Two police officers are this morning guarding the property.
The area has been cordoned off with "police emergency" tape.
A Waitemata Police District blue tent has been set up in the driveway of the Akoranga Drive property, where three cars are parked outside the front door.
Lights are on inside the two-storey brick house and the curtains are closed.
Two police cars are parked on street to the left of the property.
Apart from the sound of dozens of cars driving to work, it's quiet. No pedestrians have been passing the property.
A police officer at the scene said they arrived about 7am to secure the property. She said police were guarding the property overnight but couldn't comment further.