Auckland shooting: Gunman Matu Reid’s death self-inflicted, police reveal, formally name offender

The shooter who killed two people in downtown Auckland on Thursday, Matu Reid, died from self-inflicted injuries, police have revealed.

Armed police found Reid - a convicted domestic abuser who was serving a home detention sentence - dead, barricaded inside a lift shaft after he entered a construction site with a shotgun.

Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said police had completed a scene examination of the downtown building site, One Queen St, where Reid injured a further 10 people.

Four people remained in hospital today in stable conditions, McKay said. They were “recovering well”.

AOS and construction workers on the roof of the One Queen Street building in Downtown Auckland on Thursday as the shooting incident was responded to and (inset) Matu Reid. Photo / Supplied

McKay also confirmed the shooter was Flat Bush man Reid, which the Herald first reported only hours after his rampage ended.

Reid also shot a police officer, who McKay said was “continuing to make progress in hospital, however, will have a long road to recovery from injuries”.

McKay said a post-mortem examination found Reid was injured by shots fired by police and by himself. His fatal injuries, however, were self-inflicted.

Police were working to make sure the construction site, opposite the Ferry Building and Britomart train station, could be handed back to the construction company.

“At this stage, police anticipate this will likely be towards the end of the week,” McKay said.

The armed police cordon on Albert St in downtown Auckland during the shooting. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Police investigations were continuing, he said, along with a critical incident investigation and a coordinated learning review.

“A large number of people have been spoken to as part of the investigation, however, we are continuing to ask anyone with photos or videos which may be relevant to get in contact,” McKay said.

Victims were Tupuga Sipiliano, 44, and Solomona To’oto’o, 45 - ‘gone too soon’

A relative of one of the men shot on the central Auckland building site says his cousin was a good man who was kind to his family.

Tupuga Sipiliano, 44, of Wattle Downs, and Solomona To’oto’o, 45, of Manurewa, were at work at a downtown Auckland construction site on Thursday morning when Matu Reid stormed the building and ran riot with a shotgun.

Tupuga Sipiliano was killed in the shooting in Auckland CBD this week. Photo / Supplied

The pair were formally named on Sunday by police, who said their families were grieving the loss of their loved ones.

One of Sipiliano’s cousins, speaking to the Herald from Samoa, was shocked by the news and said he was a good man and a kind person to his family and children.

Other family members and friends of Sipiliano shared heartfelt tributes to him online.

“Gone too soon. Rest in peace,” they posted.

Auckland CBD gunman Matu Reid, who died in a shoot-out with police after killing two construction workers at the One Queen Street site. Photos / Hayden Woodward / Supplied

Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina shared his condolences with the men’s immediate and extended families and said the community would always be there to support them.

Filipaina said he had no doubt the families would come together to ensure their loved ones had a good send-off.

“It just brings them together. It really does, and it’s just so, so important for this to happen.”

“We also share their loss, and you know, look, that’s really the key thing, is to make sure that we do that - if there’s any [request] for support, we need to support them as they go through this.”

Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said on Sunday police were able to name them as formal identification processes have been completed. The pair’s bodies were removed from the scene on Friday.

“Police extend sincere condolences to the families,” McKay said Sunday.

An eyewitness said Reid’s attack on Thursday appeared targeted.

“I can remember him yelling, ‘So, what you going to do to me now ... what can you do?’” the worker, who had only been working at that construction site for less than a month, told the Herald.

Construction workers together at the top of the Deloitte building on Auckland CBD during Thursday's shooting. Photo / Hayden Woodward

“I don’t know, but the two people he shot, [it] was like he wanted to kill those two people. I feel like he was too angry because he was yelling out to people; because when he came to my room, he left slow, and he could have shot randomly if he was looking for someone.

“The way he was yelling was like he came with a purpose. It all happened within five minutes.”

Reid was sentenced to five months’ home detention on March 2021 for a violent assault where he struck and strangled a woman, breaking a bone in her neck. That attack was carried out while he was serving a sentence of supervision following an earlier assault.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.