Neighbours told the Herald they heard two gunshots.
A teenager said she saw everything out the window of her house.
She told the Herald she saw two or three boys walking up Preston Rd when a car with four boys in it came up Kudu Rd. She said two of the boys jumped out of the car and starting shooting at the others.
It looked like one of the boys was hit, she said. The boys ran away and the car drove off down Preston Rd in the opposite direction, she said.
A Preston Rd resident said he didn't realise what had happened until the police turned up.
"I heard two bangs. At first I thought it didn't matter, that it was just someone banging on corrugated iron. It wasn't until the cops turned up that I realised."
Residents 200-300m down the road from where it took place told the Herald the bangs were so loud they sounded like they were right outside their homes.
Police are speaking with the victims and witnesses to the incident. A number of police will remain in the area for a time while a scene examination is carried out.
Sutherland said he wanted to reassure the local community police were taking this incident very seriously and were making a number of enquiries to locate the offenders.
Counties Manukau East Area Commander Inspector Wendy Spiller said police were called to the incident on Preston Rd about 7.05pm.
She asked that people avoid the area.
One person had moderate injuries and may require surgery, she said. The other two had superficial injuries.
Five ambulance units were sent to the scene.
Preston and Kudu roads were cordoned off for some time.
Preston Rd resident Gloria Wijohn said she had not seen or heard any police in the area tonight.
She had lived on the road for 40 years and never heard of anything like this in the area.
"It's been wonderful. I'm really blown away by it. Everyone here's really close knit," she said.
"Normally when we do have drinks we invite everybody [on Preston Rd]."
