Police and emergency service respond to the shooting in Grey Lynn on Thursday night. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Police and emergency service respond to the shooting in Grey Lynn on Thursday night. Photo / Hayden Woodward
The brother of a family living on the Auckland street where a teenager was shot dead says the family called police hours earlier, after large rocks were thrown at their house, smashing windows.
Less than three hours later, an 18-year-old was dead and three others were seriously injured after shots were heard on Tuarangi Rd, Grey Lynn, on Thursday night.
Police are continuing investigations into the homicide of the young man, who has been identified by family and friends online as Maxwel-Dee Repia.
On Saturday night they arrested two teenagers: a 19-year-old in South Auckland and an 18-year-old in West Auckland.
The man told the Herald the earlier incident - alleged to have happened at about 4pm - was not connected to the second much more serious incident at 6:50pm in which the teenager was killed and multiple others injured.
He said the family is now too scared to return home and has moved into a motel. The Herald has agreed not to name them.
They are also making moves to leave their house permanently after what he claims has been a year of ongoing conflict between young people in the neighbourhood.
Police at the scene of a shooting in Tuarangi Rd, Grey Lynn, on Thursday night. Photo / Hayden Woodward
He said the conflict between young people in the area had been so bad in recent months that his family had been trying to get transferred into another Kāinga Ora property.
“My brother [and his kids] - they’re not gangsters. My brother keeps ringing the police or Kāinga Ora [to be transferred out of the street]” he said.
“He’s a solo dad doing the best he can and has been trying for months and months to get Kāinga Ora and the police to help him” he claimed.
“They’ve done nothing and now this has happened. We don’t have guns...we’re not that sort of people.”
The man said he was still outside when the more serious incident happened shortly before 7pm.
“When the guns started going off, I f*****g [started to] run. I started to run in a figure-eight...that sound was absolutely terrifying.”
The man said they called the police about 6pm to report the rock-throwing incident.
He also alleged that the group - which he believes numbered up to 15 - threatened them with guns.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin on Friday confirmed that police received a report via the 105 non-emergency phone line about 5.40pm that rocks had been thrown at a property on Tuarangi Rd, causing damage.
A police spokeswoman said on Saturday that firearms were not mentioned in that call and that the person who called said the alleged offenders had already left the area in a vehicle.
“The caller was advised to call 111 should any further suspicious activity occur, so police could attend at the time of the incident. Police always encourage anyone with any concerns for their immediate safety to call 111 as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, officers have been going door-to-door in the area in a bid to find anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that may be helpful to their homicide investigation. They are also looking for any CCTV or dashcam footage that people may have.
Can you help? Anyone with information is urged to contact Police on 105 or CrimeStopers Anonymous on 0800 555 111
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