Overnight drive-by shooting in Manurewa. Video / Dean Purcell
A house and sleepout on a Manurewa street were sprayed with bullets overnight in a shooting apparently linked to the King Cobra gang.
The night also saw another, unrelated arson at a home in Papatoetoe, which police say is linked to an ongoing spate of drive-by shootings between the Tribesmen and rival gang the Killer Beez.
National says the latest shooting shows volatile gangs feel they can act with impunity, and people no longer feel safe in their homes.
A major new crackdown on gangs, Operation Cobalt, is due to start in June but National's police spokesman Mark Mitchell wants to see the operation brought forward and made permanent.
But Police Minister Poto Williams has hit back, saying police are ramping up focus on the unlawful behaviour of gangs, and police remain committed to "combating criminal activities so our communities are safe and feel safe".
"My expectation has always been that police targets unlawful behaviour, particularly those of gangs and organised crime groups."
Police cars lined Gibbs Rd in Manurewa today and a property next to the Manurewa AFC was cordoned off. At least 20 bullet holes could be seen in the walls and windows of a house and in a container sleepout on the property.
Neighbours said the property was a gang house. Gang members, some wearing King Cobra patches, were gathered on the street outside the police cordon before moving to the football club field nearby.
Police cordon off the end of Gibbs Rd in Manurewa. Photo / Dean Purcell
King Cobra gang members gathered outside the police cordon. Photo / Dean Purcell
Officers conducting a scene examination today declined to comment.
Bullet holes at the scene of the shooting on Gibbs Road, Manurewa. Photo / Dean Purcell
Bullet holes at the scene of the shooting on Gibbs Road, Manurewa. Photo / Dean Purcell
Residents of the street said they hadn't heard anything last night but one man had been told by police this morning that there had been a shooting at the property. He did not believe anyone had been hurt.
The incident had left him feeling unsafe, and he wondered if he should be moving his young family away from the area.
But he said he had lived on the street for five years and never had any problems with the people living in the house.
"Sometimes they're standing out at the gate and wave their hand at us ... I don't know what's happening on that side of their life, but other than that, they're friendly.
"All the other people [on this street], you can ask them and I think they'll say they're friendly."
Bullet holes were visible in both the house and sleepout on the property. Photo / Dean Purcell
A police spokeswoman confirmed there had been a report of gunshots on Gibbs Rd at around 12.50am.
"On arrival, police discovered an address had been shot at. Thankfully no one was injured during this incident."
Police were examining the scene and continuing their inquiries.
"At this time, we do not believe this to be linked to recent firearms incidents across Tāmaki Makaurau this week."
Those incidents include a wave of drive-by shootings related to a feud between the Tribesmen gang and its former youth feeder gang, the Killer Beez.
Earlier this week Williams offered reassurance to the community that Auckland police would be able to restore calm following the shootings, and police announced yesterday they had arrested seven people believed to be involved.
But National's Mitchell said that put unfair expectations on the police.
"I think it's irresponsible for the Minister to come out and say that police will get on top of a problem that's been fomenting for four years," he said. "It's going to take a big effort over a longer period of time to start to really get control of the massive growth in gang numbers, proliferation of weapons and the willingness of gangs to use them."
This afternoon he attended a law and order meeting in Maungakiekie, where residents told him they no longer felt safe in their own homes.
Mitchell was "fully supportive" of Operation Cobalt but said it should have started years ago.
Mitchell has long been an advocate of arming the police. Asked whether that would lead to gang members arming themselves more as well, Mitchell said he didn't accept that argument.
"Gangs have got guns, and they're using guns. My position is that police need to have that tactical option available to them.
"It's no longer acceptable to having police officers arriving to a gunfight carrying pepper spray."
In response, Williams told the Herald Operation Colbalt would see police districts focus specifically on addressing unlawful behaviour by gang members. This was backed by a record $94m in new Budget funding to target gangs.
Police had also doubled the number of organised crime staff since 2017 and rolled out a specialist firearms investigation team last year.
Act's justice spokeswoman Nicole McKee has called for urgent action on gangs.
"If we do not become harder on the gangs and tougher on law and order then we are just going to end up with a massive problem that is going to spread far out of Auckland and go national.
"We are already starting to see some of that happening in Wellington and in Christchurch, what we need to do first of all is get into these gang pads. Get in there, start ripping them apart and start pulling the firearms out.
"If we can take the guns away from the gangs in the first instance, we can keep a lot of innocent families safe when they go to bed at night."
Meanwhile police said the attempted arson in Papatoetoe was the only incident from overnight linked to the Killer Beez gang.
Police were alerted to a report of a fire at an address on Barrie Ave around 1.10am.
