KEY POINTS:
The deputy mayor of Porirua where a young man was stabbed to death at the weekend is pleading for peace in the community.
Fitzgerald "Fitz" Risati, 24, died after he and his younger brother, Risati Risati junior, were attacked by three men while waiting for a taxi in Cannons Creek about 2.40am Saturday.
Porirua deputy mayor Litea Ah Hoi said the community could not afford to lose another young life unnecessarily.
"I'm pleading with our Samoan community that they just take a step backwards and we don't want retaliation," Ms Ah Hoi said on Radio New Zealand this morning.
"The last thing we need is another death."
She was also appealing to Pacific Island church ministers.
"They need to gather these kids in and find a way through this situation."'
Youth crime was a growing problem in Porirua, she said.
"It was inevitable that someone would eventually die, one of our young ones and this is what we've been trying to avoid - only we probably haven't tried hard enough."
She believed this generation of young people were trying to emulate what they saw on TV and heard in rap music.
"They watch the video tapes, they hear their songs, the lyrics in their music and they just wanna be gangsters."
There was no one answer to stopping it, Ms Ah Hoi said.
"Unfortunately we have to live with the technology we have to live with the media, the books and it's in front of our children."
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Risati's father, Risati Risati, asked for anyone who knew what had happened to come forward so such a tragedy would not strike another family.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Oxnam said this morning the investigation was progressing "very, very well".
"Thanks to the high regard of the Risati family are held in there's a lot of goodwill out there and we're generating a lot of information."
There was also a lot of anger in the community, but there was no need for vigilantism, he told Radio New Zealand.
"Any other violence just takes our resources away from focusing on locating Fitzgerald's murderer and please bear that in mind.
"Unfortunately no matter what your motivation we'll have to investigate it and put people before the court and that's just another bit of grief in that community."
Mr Risati's younger brother was expected to be released from hospital today, he said.
Mr Risati and his friends were "fine young men" who were not gang members, Mr Oxnam said.
He would not say whether the offenders were believed to be gang members.
"We're certainly considering all aspects."
One of the men alleged to have attacked Mr Risati is described as Maori or Polynesian, fat, with facial hair and long hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Meanwhile, police arrested a 33-year-old man allegedly involved in an altercation earlier in the evening before the murder, and are looking at possible links.
That man is due to appear in Porirua District Court today, facing charges of unlawful assembly, possession of cannabis and possession of a weapon.
- NZPA
