Gang feud shootings: Police called to seven Auckland suburbs. Video / NZ Herald
The neighbour of a home that was shot at in Auckland last night says the house is often full of children.
The woman, who asked not to be identified by name, shares a driveway on Rathgar Rd in Henderson with the victims and says her 6-year-old daughter often plays withthe children, who often had their cousins over too.
She said she was watching a movie when four bangs rung out around 11.17pm.
"I thought it was a firework or something because [a shooting] never happened here," she recounted in her doorway while standing beside her daughter.
She said she was thankful that her daughter slept through the incident.
"Otherwise she might feel scared," she said, acknowledging that it was frightening enough for herself.
Another neighbour who lives near the top of the driveway, with a large gap between his home and the one that was targeted, said he was already in bed when the gunshots went off.
"I heard the four bangs [but] didn't know if it was gunshots or fireworks," he said. "I found out this morning it was gunshots."
He said he wasn't familiar with who currently lives in the home, but that it is a rental and the occupants "change often".
The neighbour said he's lived on Rathgar Rd for 15 years, and last night's events were unusual.
"That's the first time anything like that's happened here," he said.
"Hopefully it doesn't happen again."
A shot out window at a house in Te Atatu South where one of the shootings occurred overnight. Photo / Tom Dillane
The Rathgar Rd home was just one of seven subjected to shootings overnight in Auckland.
There were also incidents in Papatoetoe, Ōtara, Flat Bush, Papakura, Te Atatū and Mt Albert.
A neighbour on Bairds Rd in Ōtara told the Herald they heard shots last night but "were used to" incidents at that house over the last few years.
Another resident on Bairds Rd said that section of the street was generally very quiet except for the house left overnight with numerous smashed windows, which was conspicuous among residents for noise and other incidents.
The resident said they heard a man banging on the door of that house around 7-8pm last night demanding to get in. But the resident said they didn't hear any subsequent gunshots
"That's so f****** scary to me. Something told me to ring the police, but it was (otherwise) so quiet," the Bairds Rd resident said.
"The guy was banging on the door and yealing open the door, unlock the door. I thought if I'm honest it was a domestic situation."
The resident said the shooting so close to home makes her think she will be "less likely to go out at night".
