Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has announced a National Gang Unit to crack down on gang crime and gangs’ anti-social behaviour. Video / NZ Herald
An Auckland grandmother is baffled and asking why a “punk-ass” targeted her home after it was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting.
Three adults and a baby were in the home when it was targeted, with some of the ammunition travelling through multiple rooms, but incredibly no onewas hurt.
The 58-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, was sitting in the lounge watching the State of Origin with her daughter, baby granddaughter and ex-partner, a 79-year-old man on dialysis.
“It was close because I was sitting in that chair right there.
“Then when it was quiet I got up and I went into the room, and I saw her and baby was crying and I said what’s the matter? . . . and she had heard the bullet come through the front door.”
There are several bullet holes in windows and weatherboards, detectives placed at least 18 forensic markers where bullet casings were found on the roadway outside the address.
“I didn’t really know what a gunshot sounded like until then. Now I know.
“There’s a hole in my wall. There’s a hole in my window.”
The tenant in her house after it was targeted in a drive-by shooting in Māngere East. Photo / Jason Oxenham
At least two of the bullets travelled the length of the house and into the backyard.
“They came straight through the bedroom, straight through the window and through the wardrobe into the back room, and then out through the window.
“They must have driven up and just started firing at the front of the house.”
The family left the home that night and were interviewed by police for three hours.
The tenant in the kitchen of her house, which was targeted in a drive-by shooting in Māngere East. Photo / Jason Oxenham
She’s anxious to find out whether the attack on the home was a case of mistaken identity or a completely random attack.
“Why would you randomly attack people like that?
“I’ve swung between being scared to being angry now to having a bit of a laugh . . . I just didn’t know what to do.”
The community was usually a safe one, she said, where she felt comfortable leaving her door unlocked for short periods and trusted her neighbours to look out for each other.
“We take care of one another. So yeah, this house for me, I’ve never felt any sort of danger in it.
“I just can’t believe that in my lifetime, I would never, ever have thought I’d experience a drive-by shooting.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Jaime began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021, as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.
