Footage from the scene shows armed police surrounding a person on the ground.
Video / AayushGupta Films
One person was shot in the head and another was shot in the abdomen during an altercation that occurred overnight on Auckland’s Queen St, with the shooter then fleeing the scene on a scooter.
Both victims are now in hospital with life-threatening injuries following the shooting, which happened around 11.30pm.
Police said they were called following reports of a fight between a group people on the corner of Fort St and Queen St.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton of Auckland CIB said a small group of people started fighting before one offender pulled out a firearm and fired a number of shots.
Both the wounded people were taken to Auckland Hospital in a critical condition.
One offender was witnessed fleeing the scene on a Lime Scooter, wearing distinctive red and black pants and a red hat.
Bolton said there was not thought to be an ongoing risk to the community.
Electric scooters abandoned on lower Queen St following a shooting incident at 11.30pm on August 3. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Footage from the scene appeared to show armed police surrounding a person on the ground. Photos of the scene also show multiple scooters lying on their sides.
A witness told the Herald he heard multiple gunshots and people yelling before looking out of the window to see a man lying on the ground and another being tended by police.
Another witness told TVNZ’s Breakfast they heard screaming and several loud bangs around 11.30pm on Thursday. When they looked out the window they saw a group of young people looking “panicked”, with a person lying still on the ground.
Police on lower Queen St following an incident overnight. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Police closed off a section of Auckland’s lower Queen St following the shooting, before reopening it by 7am.
Emergency services descended on the area during the night. Police overnight were maintaining a scene guard with cordons in place between Customs St East and Shortland St. The cordons have now been lifted.
There are also several numbered police markings on the ground.
Police had cordons in place between Customs St East and Shortland St in the Auckland CBD. Photo / Hayden Woodward
“We believe that this was an isolated incident and there is no ongoing risk to the community,” Bolton said.
”Police have zero tolerance for violence in public places, especially where firearms are used, and are working to hold the offenders to account.”
Police were following “positive lines of enquiry” and anyone with information was asked to come forward.
Police have completed a scene examination and are now looking for all those involved.
Anyone with information in relation to the shooting is asked to contact the Police via 105 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111, referencing job number P055553779.
Cordons were in place following the incident in the Auckland CBD. Photo / Hayden Woodward
Queen St resident: ‘Scared to walk home at night’
A resident who witnessed the events of last night’s shooting described his safety fears of living on Queen St.
The hospitality worker had locked up his store and was in his apartment working on his laptop just before midnight when he heard multiple rounds of gunshots ring out.
”It raised some alarms in my mind, but I figured it was just my mind playing tricks on me,” he told the Herald.
”Then I heard some people yelling and minutes later, I heard sirens and the cops arrived - so I looked out the window and saw what had happened.”
The man’s apartment looked directly over the scene of the shooting, he found one man lying on the ground and a second person being tended to by a group of roughly five uniformed officers.
He wasn’t sure about the conditions of either of the people at the time but he noticed the section of Queen St getting blocked off to the public.
The Auckland CBD incident comes 15 days after the last Queen St shooting that killed two people, it’s the second recent incident for the hospitality worker who said he feels scared walking home at night.
”It’s pretty scary for me to walk back, but having seen these things in the news and to think ‘ah, I live here and now seen these things’,” he said.
”There are so many times I take a long way home [to avoid Queen St], it’s pretty quiet at that time of night so the shooting was pretty out of the blue.”
The shooting happened barely two blocks away from where Matu Reid opened fire two weeks ago, killing two men and injuring numerous others including a police officer.
The 24-year-old was on home detention for domestic violence charges when he entered the high-rise construction site at 7.22am on July 20, armed with a pump-action shotgun.
He worked his way through the building, shooting Solomona To’ot’oo and Tupuga Sipiliana dead.
