A young man shot dead in his car in Mt Wellington at the weekend was a Rebels MC member whose father joined the gang to protect his family amid a bitter and violent neighbourhood feud.
Texas Jack Doctor, 22, was shot in a car
Mt Wellington shooting: victim was patched Rebels MC member Texas Doctor, family earlier involved in series of violent incidents
Texas Jack Doctor (inset); a police cordon outside the Puffing Kiwi vape shop on Penrose Road, Mt Wellington at the scene of the fatal shooting incident overnight. A car with a broken window is the focus of investigation. Photo / Isaac Davison
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Police arrived at the scene on Saturday night to find blood pooling beside the smashed driver’s window of a Mazda hatchback outside a vape store.
Jeff McCoun, a visitor from the United States who was staying in an Airbnb next to the shops, said they were woken about 11pm by “two distinct gunshots”.
“It was loud, like it was right outside our window,” he said. “We said ‘Woah, what was that?’”
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He said they were too afraid to look out the window until police arrived five minutes later.
“I didn’t expect that in New Zealand... it will be an interesting Airbnb review.”
The motivation for the killing remains unconfirmed as police continue to hunt for the gunman with the aid of CCTV footage captured from nearby shops.
But the Herald can reveal the victim’s father, who is also called Texas, was himself shot in the driveway of his home in East Auckland about two years ago.
Court documents obtained by the Herald and details from the victim’s recent hearings in the Auckland and Manukau District Courts show his short life was characterised by tit-for-tat violence.
He and another man were themselves charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after allegedly shooting a man in his car near the Li’l Abners Takeaways in Papatoetoe in March last year.
The complainant was repeatedly shot through his passenger side window four times and received multiple wounds from shotgun pellets but survived after driving himself to hospital.
It’s understood his co-defendant pleaded guilty but the Crown dropped the charge against Texas Jack Doctor after successful arguments about the strength of the case from his lawyer Bradley Moyer.
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A legal memo from the Manukau Crown solicitor filed with the court said they were unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was in the car at the time of the shooting.
Last year, Doctor was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a fracas in the Sylvia Park Mall food court.
He was at the food court with his brother Wiremu when a scrap broke out between the pair and a group of Head Hunters gang members. Chairs and punches were thrown. Police found a 23cm knife on Doctor after he was arrested.
Moyer told the court at the August 24 hearing that Doctor was carrying the blade for protection because his father was shot in the driveway of his home the previous year.
That shooting remained under police investigation and there had been no arrests, the lawyer said.
Texas Jack Doctor’s father, Texas Junior Doctor, appeared alongside Wiremu Doctor in the Auckland District Court earlier this year.
The father-son duo were up for sentencing after admitting charges of discharging a firearm with reckless disregard amid a feud with another family in the area.
The specifics of the disagreement remain vague, but the sentencing judge noted the victims’ family had a relationship with rival gang the Head Hunters.
The Doctors, who lived in Penrose, had been involved in an earlier disagreement with a set of siblings who lived with their mother about 3km away in Glen Innes, court documents state.
The mother of those siblings had just been dropped off after an evening out with her three daughters, who were still in the driveway.
She was waving goodbye to her daughters from a laundry room window when the Doctors and a third man arrived in two vehicles – two of them carrying shotguns.
“Texas [Junior] Doctor shot at the house,” the agreed summary of facts for the case said.
“Shotgun pellets entered the window of the laundry where [the mother] was, causing glass from the window to fall into her hair.”
Texas Doctor the elder then fired twice at the van with the three sisters inside, puncturing two tyres as they tried to leave the driveway.
“That’s what happens when you f*** with family!” one of the defendants – it’s not agreed who – yelled as the shots were fired.
Texas Junior Doctor then fired at a parked vehicle in the driveway before the trio left the scene.
Three days after that shooting, he was shot outside his own home.
The court heard Texas Junior Doctor had joined the Rebels in 2022, aged 42, to protect his teen sons from bullying in their “troubled” East Auckland neighbourhood.
His sons followed in his footsteps.
“I accept your life has been difficult in terms of having to raise your three children while your partner, their mother, has been highly addicted to methamphetamine,” Judge John Bergseng said.
“Clearly, your focus was on your sons and raising them.”
“Unfortunately, you made a decision that to protect your family, the best way to achieve that was to become a patched member of the Rebels.”
He sentenced Texas Junior Doctor to four years and three months’ imprisonment and ordered a sentence of two years and seven months’ imprisonment for Wiremu Doctor.
Meanwhile there are fears the killing of Texas Jack Doctor could inflame gang tensions in the city.
His death comes almost a year after Head Hunter Charles Pongi was shot at a reserve in Pt England about 10 minutes up the road from the scene in Mt Wellington.
Pongi was fatally wounded during a clash between members of the Head Hunters, Rebels MC and their associates. He drove himself to hospital but did not survive.
Tributes are flowing for Texas Jack Doctor on social media from friends and fellow Rebels MC members.
Police have yet to formally release his name following the autopsy, expected to take place on Monday.
Acting Detective Inspector Chris Allan, Auckland City CIB, said in a statement on Monday afternoon the scene examination was finished.
”Police inquiries remain ongoing and we continue to speak to witness and those providing information as we piece together what has occurred,” Allan said.
“We appreciate there are several questions the public will have about what has happened, however we are still in the early stages.
“The community can expect to see an increased police presence in the Mt Wellington area throughout the next few days.
“At this stage, we do believe that the parties involved were known to one another.”
Anyone with information was asked to contact police by calling 105 and quoting file number 240714/0428.
