The man said his daughter rang him to tell him what happened.
“She’s going to be devastated,” he said.
Police said in a statement that initial reports were that multiple people have been injured.
Cordons have been put in place while emergency services work at the scene.
About a dozen police cars and ambulances are on site, with armed officers keeping guard around the cordon.
At the Great North Rd end of Tuarangi Rd, a group of about eight or nine people tearfully hugged one another just outside the cordon.
The police helicopter can be heard flying overhead.
Police cordons are in place on Tuarangi Rd, Grey Lynn, as emergency services respond to a reported shooting. Photo / Hayden Woodward Armed police and a dog unit surrounded a block of flats and gained access to one of the units.
Police have erected a “specialist search group” tent.
St John Ambulance sent two rapid response vehicles, three ambulances and an operations manager.
One resident of the road has been told by police she can’t go home because of a “serious incident”.
Another reported seeing a body on the ground.
Soon afterwards, a man showed up at the intersection of Tuarangi and Great North roads wanting to gain access to the crime scene.
He told police his son was dead and he wanted to see him.
Armed police enter a house on Tuarangi Rd as they investigate tonight's incident in which one person died and multiple people were injured. Photo / Hayden Woodward Police are on Tuarangi Rd, Grey Lynn, Auckland, after reports of a shooting incident. Photo / Hayden Woodward - More to come