Three people, including the shooter, were killed in Auckland.
It was the day New Zealand and Ferns fans had waited years for but instead, Auckland, the host city for the Women’s World Cup opening game, woke up to the sound of gunshots, blaring police sirenes, helicopters circling over downtown, and dozens of heavily armed police officers storming Queen Street as a shooting killed three people, including the shooter, a 24-year-old with “no ideological motive” but who had been on home detention for domestic violence, according to the New Zealand Herald.
Multiple ambulances rushed to the scene and early reports suggested casualties as well as multiple injured people. “This incident unfolded after reports of a person discharging a firearm inside the site on lower Queen Street at around 7.22 am,” said police in a statement.
The shooting took place in the city centre, a stone’s throw from the team hotels of Norway, who play later on Thursday, and the USA, who hours later boarded a bus to team training. Norwegian captain Maren Mjelde said: “Everybody woke up quickly when helicopters were flying outside our hotel windows. A huge amount of police cars passed by. We felt safe the whole time. FIFA has a good security arrangement at the hotel and we have our own security.”
Authorities moved to shut down a part of the city. It was not how Nicky, a cleaner at Commercial Bay building, had imagined the day would start. She had to evacuate and on her way out she heard gunshots.
