Whakatane gunshots related to weekend stabbing

11.50am

Violence erupted again on the east coast of the North Island with a flurry of gunshots reported in Whakatane last evening.

Police say the shooting was connected to a fatal stabbing during a brawl early Saturday morning.

Te Rangi Tait Carroll, 20, died after the weekend brawl which involved more than 30 people.

The brawl between members of the Taneatua/Ruatoki chapter of the Mongrel Mob and Whakatane Black Power had led to increased gang tensions and yesterday police said they had spent the last two days speaking with them.

It is understood several shots were fired shortly after 9.30pm yesterday and police spent much of the night investigating the incident.

Constable Brett Terkinson, of Whakatane police, said a man fired shots at another man on Bridge and Churchill streets.

A few people were spoken to by police this morning in relation to the shooting, he said.

Whakatane anti-gang campaigner Matt Kohe said he was shocked by the brutality of Saturday's attack.

"This must be the most callous attack we've had in Whakatane. We have 30 gang members beating up on two guys. It must be one of the most vicious murders ever.

"It's a waste of life. I feel a sense of guilt for not campaigning more vigorously but I don't have the resources to do it."

Mr Kohe criticised community leaders for not doing enough to address the problem.

"Whakatane is the gang capital of New Zealand. We would have more patched gang members in this borough than anywhere else in New Zealand. I have approached a lot of the community leaders about this problem and they have shown no interest," he said.

Whakatane mayor Colin Hammond said gangs had no place in Whakatane, the Bay of Plenty or New Zealand.

"We have to express our sympathies to the family of the young man concerned. The really sad thing is that a young life has been snuffed out. There is no point in that," Mr Hammond said.

"It doesn't reflect badly on the town, it reflects badly on the gang element involved. If this is what gangs stand for then they have no place in Whakatane, no place in this district and no place in New Zealand."

A tangi is under way for Mr Carroll at Waikirikiri Marae in Ruatoki.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)