Homicide investigation launched in Tauranga

A young man in his late teens found lying lifeless in a suburban Tauranga driveway this morning is believed to have been at a party at a neighbouring house last night.

A post-mortem on the man's body, which was found outside a Mansfield St, Hairini house about 9am today, will be carried out tomorrow morning to establish the cause of death for the young man.

The cul de sac remains cordoned off to allow a team of about 30 police officers to continue their scene examination and investigation of what they say is a homicide.

Police have established that there was a party that the young man, from the Western Bay of Plenty, was at last night.

There were no calls to the party address or reports of any trouble at the house but police did attend a report of a stabbing some distance away near the intersection of Welcome Bay Road and Ohauiti Road - opposite the Palmers Garden Centre at 12.30am.

Police enquiries suggest that the dead man was not at this location or involved in this incident but they are looking at possible links between the two events.

One man received hand and facial injuries during this second event; he was treated at hospital and discharged.

Police want to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious at either location; particularly any vehicles.

The focus over the next couple of days will be to speak to all partygoers, identify any other witnesses from the area and complete the scene examination.

It remains unclear what the man's injuries are or how long he had been lying in the driveway before he had been discovered.

A resident, who lives on the street and asked not to be named, said a neighbour found the man's body and didn't know who he was.

The woman said it appeared as if the man had stumbled in to the driveway from somewhere else and died there as police had laid several small cones indicating areas requiring further investigation around the small cul-de-sac.

"The whole street is marked, there are cones all over the show," she said.

"He has wandered from somewhere, injured, that's what I'm guessing and what it looks like to me," she said.

The woman said there were often parties on Harrisfield Drive which is nearby and rarely are there parties on Mansfield St which is a "nice, quiet little place".

"It's quite an eerie feeling actually. Generally, we have kids out playing on their bikes and we haven't got that today."

She said residents are allowed in on foot and out but the street was cordoned off to vehicles.