KEY POINTS:
Police are confident they will soon know the motive behind the execution-style killing of a young man in Papatoetoe.
The 26-year-old was shot in the head and body from behind as he was about to enter his Park Ave home just after midnight on Saturday.
The father of one was found by his pregnant partner and died in Middlemore Hospital about two hours after the shooting.
Detective Inspector John Timms, crime manager for Counties Manukau, said he did not believe it was a random attack.
"It looks planned ... There will be a reason for it, and we'll find out what the reason is in the next few days."
The partner of the deceased and some neighbours got a glimpse of the killer, who was described as Maori, aged about 30, 170cm tall with short hair. He drove off in what looked like a black sports car.
Mr Timms said the victim had returned home after midnight, parked his vehicle on the front lawn and walked a short distance to the front door.
The killer got out of the black car with a firearm and approached the man from behind, shooting him three times, about 12.20am.
Mr Timms said the victim's partner heard a noise and found him collapsed on the ground.
He said the armed offenders squad searched two addresses as part of the inquiry.
Police would be talking with the partner of the slain man as well as his friends and family.
He would not be publicly named until next of kin had been notified.
The police had also gone door-to-door in the neighbourhood to ask whether residents had seen or heard anything suspicious.
Mr Timms said anyone with information should contact him directly or ring the Manukau police station.
In what police believe to be an unrelated incident, a 16-year-old youth was shot in the leg as he walked in Mangere on Saturday evening.
Mr Timms said the youth was shot in Windrush Close about 9.30pm.
Friends called an ambulance and he was taken to Middlemore Hospital.
His injuries were not life-threatening.
Mr Timms said the offender stopped his vehicle, got out and then removed a shotgun from the boot.
He shot the victim in the left leg and then drove off.
Mr Timms again believed it was not a random shooting. "These things happen for a reason."
Mr Timms said it had been a busy night for the police. At another incident in Papakura, police were called to a fight among a group of males in the area of Smiths Ave.
When they arrived at 2am there was no fight, but a youth was discovered lying on the netball courts with serious head injuries.
The 19-year-old, from Papakura, was taken to Middlemore Hospital where he remained yesterday in a critical condition.
Mr Timms said the police had responded well to what was a busy night.
"We had a lot of staff working."
He was confident all the cases would be solved.
In the Auckland region, the northern communications centre received more than 1100 calls between 10pm on Saturday and 7am yesterday.
Counties Manukau bore the brunt of the workload and also, with the assistance of the traffic alcohol group, ran a major drink-drive operation.
More than 90 staff on Friday and Saturday, between 10pm and 5am, stopped 9429 drivers, of whom 220 returned positive breath tests.
