Three dead in Auckland’s CBD How the shooting unfolded
Two civilians and a gunman are dead after a shocking shooting incident in central Auckland in New Zealand
Police are working to establish exactly what happened this morning at the busy construction site, where a police officer was also critically injured alongside four members of the public.
Officers are speaking to more than 40 witnesses and expect it will take days to follow up the information they need.
Here is the timeline of events that has been established so far (all times in NZST):
7.23am: A witness calls police to report a man with a gun shooting at a building on lower Queen Street in central Auckland.
7:34am: Police are on scene, cordon off the area and enter the building in pursuit of the gunman.
.40am: Officers are joined by the Armed Offender Squad.
8am: Police find the shooter in a lift shaft on the upper levels of the building and try to speak with him. At some time after he shoots a police officer and shots are fired between him and police. He is then found dead.
8.30am: Police issue a public statement asking for members of the public to avoid the lower Queen Street area and for those in downtown inner-city buildings to remain inside their buildings.
9.10am: St John Ambulance confirm three people were seriously injured, and another three were “moderately injured” in the incident.
9.40am: Police announce the incident is over and that there is no threat to national security, and confirm that three people including the shooter had been killed.
10:20am: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirms the World Cup opening match between New Zealand and Norway tonight will go ahead, and that a police officer is among the injured.
11.58am: Police confirm an officer was critically injured, but say his condition has been stabliised. Police also advise the public can return to the CBD, but should avoid the crime scene.
1.20pm: Police say they believe the shooter was a 24-year-old on house arrest who had previously worked at the construction site.
