KEY POINTS:
Police say a man stabbed to death in an Auckland suburb was followed for almost half an hour by two men who were determined to escalate an initial verbal clash.
Daryl Graydon, 24, of Panmure, was attacked while walking in the Ridge Rd area of Howick, early on Saturday morning.
Police say Mr Graydon was oneof a number of people who hadbeen involved in an earlier altercation.
He and a friend, Campbell Sussex, were then followed and attacked near the corner of Ridge Rd and Nelson St.
Mr Sussex managed to escape but Mr Graydon was stabbed multiple times in the upper body.
He staggered to the side of the road before collapsing in the driveway of a nearby house.
Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Jones told reporters at the scene of the stabbing that it was not known who started the altercation between the two groups.
"It seems there were words exchanged and it has gone from there."
The altercation had started off with some verbal abuse, which neighbours might have heard but was not really comprehensible, he said.
A female voice was heard in the initial altercation but the group was not fighting over a girl, he said.
Mr Jones said a witness had described it as a "bit of a boy thing" and a "young male thing".
"I think she is talking about a bit of testosterone and a bit of alcohol, mixed together."
Police did not know if alcohol had been consumed by both groups but there was a small amount consumed by the group of friends Mr Graydon was with.
The initial altercation was believed to have happened about 1am. The fatal attack happened about 20 to 30 minutes later.
During this time Mr Graydon and Mr Sussex had continued walking about 1.3km along the road towards Ridge Rd, before they noticed two people behind them.
It is thought Mr Graydon was in the middle of the street when he was stabbed and then stumbled to the side of the road.
"It appears our offenders have been quite determined to follow up and escalate the situation and, of course, we're not exactly sure why that is at this stage."
Mr Jones said police were keeping an open mind about any potential connection to the South African community.
"We're not limiting ourselves to the fact that it was a South African thing. There was talk of accents and other languages."
One of the suspects was described as European with blond hair and freckles. He was wearing a brown and grey hooded top.
The other was part-Maori or olive-skinned, with dark spiky hair and wearing an electric blue shirt.
Both were wearing white shoes and were believed to be aged between 18 and 25.
- NZPA
