The scene at Parkfield Terrace, in Grafton, today - a day after a man was found dead next to a car after an incident in St Johns. Photo / Luke Kirkness
The scene at Parkfield Terrace, in Grafton, today - a day after a man was found dead next to a car after an incident in St Johns. Photo / Luke Kirkness
Residents on an Auckland central street where a man was found dead have described seeing police officers trying desperately to save him.
A man living in Grafton's Parkfield Terrace, where the body was found before 7am yesterday, said he woke to discover police officers giving CPR to someone lying on the street.
Inside his home, the resident said he saw lights flashing and, at first, thought it was a rubbish collection truck.
Looking outside, he saw a person on the ground with the car beside them still running; as an officer was carrying out CPR on the victim.
At the scene this morning, it was quiet; with only the roar of cars driving on the Southern Motorway echoing in the distance.
Cars lined the street where police officers had yesterday cordoned it off from the public. This morning, however, there was no sign of officers or any police tape.
Auckland Transport meter-readers were checking everyone had paid for parking and did not speak when acknowledged by a reporter.
Police at the scene on St Johns Rd, St Johns, yesterday. Neighbours reported hearing gunshots in the area aout 6am. Photo / Dean Purcell
About 8km away, in the suburb of St Johns, neighbours there have spoken about harrowing scenes after gunshots rang out and a car was seen speeding down a normally quiet St Johns Rd.
A man would later be found dead about 8km away on the side of a road in Grafton.
The scene at Parkfield Terrace, in Grafton, today - a day after a man was found dead next to a car after an incident in St Johns. Photo / Luke Kirkness
At St Johns Rd this morning, a day after the incident, a man who lives nearby described how he and his partner had heard the shootings around 6am yesterday; but were unsure about what the sound was exactly.
Running out of their property, the couple saw a car flee the scene, heading along St Johns Rd towards Remuera.
The neighbour told the Herald he believed it to be the same vehicle later found on Parkfield Terrace in Grafton.
Two women were seen on the other side of the road to the couple and were allegedly making a call to Police, he said.
When officers arrived, the man said they found bullet casings in the area.
Police were called to a property on St Johns Rd just after 6am after reports of gunshots being heard.
Another resident, a woman working from home this morning, said she was shaken up by the shooting 24 hours later.
A vehicle left St Johns Rd, in St Johns, just after 6am yesterday. It was later found, alongside the body of a dead man, in Parkfield Terrace, in Grafton, central Auckland. Image / Google
'Nothing like this has ever happened before'
She too had heard screaming and two gunshot-like noises around 6am, but did not get up to investigate. She did not know which house the incident took place at either.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before," said the woman, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years.
As a result of the incident, she was now thinking about increasing the level of security around her home.
A resident in nearby Truman St told the Herald yesterday he heard two gunshots about 6am followed by yelling.
"I heard a couple of shots ... and shouting and screaming - a man and a woman," he said.
Police said a vehicle then left the scene before coming to a stop about an 11-minute drive away in Grafton.
Police officers arrived at that second location shortly afterwards and blocked off the road.
Car captured on CCTV footage
A witness reported seeing a car parked on the left side of the road with the back right passenger's door open, while a body lay on the road nearby. It was covered with a white sheet.
The owner of a shop nearby said the car and the people involved were captured on their CCTV cameras.
He described seeing two people dragging a body out of the back seat of a car on to the street, before one of the people involved could be seen pacing up and down the road between about 6.30am and 6.43am.
Police at the corner Parkfield Tce and Khyber Pass Rd, in Grafton, where a man was found dead in the early hours of yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell
"A guy was on the phone for at least 10 to 15 minutes. He was just talking on the phone," the shop owner, who asked not to be named, said.
