Beach Haven shooting: Tradie in ute narrowly avoids gunfire by millimetres in pre-dawn shooting

An unsuspecting tradie who escaped being killed by millimetres believes “someone was looking out for him” after the ute he was sitting in was hit by gunfire in the latest Auckland suburban shooting.

The man, a grandfather, told a neighbour he was using his cellphone in the dark when he and his vehicle parked in a quiet Beach Haven dead-end street suddenly came under attack.

A police investigation is under way after a vehicle and home in Beach Haven were sprayed by bullets in an early-morning incident.

Rambler Cres residents were awoken by multiple loud gunshots and screeching tyres around 6.30am.

Resident Paul Ellis told the Herald he heard six to eight very distinct popping sounds.

“We hear fireworks a lot in the neighbourhood but this sounded different.”

An hour later, he walked out on the street and found that a ute had been shot up.

“I was chatting with who I thought were neighbours and one of them told me he was sitting in the car when it had been shot at.”

“He said he was fine and seemed to be taking it quite well, but I wondered if he was in shock,” Ellis said.

“It was completely dark at the time and the man told me he was playing games on his phone at the time. The bullet would have been millimetres away.

“He told me he was a father and a grandfather and I told him to go home and hug his kids and grandkids because it was a miracle that you’re alive.

“He told me, ‘Someone is looking out for me’,” Ellis said.

Two bullets pierced the front windows of an address on Rambler Cres in Beach Haven on Auckland's North Shore.

Today police said there were no updates at this stage with the investigation continuing.

Yesterday Waitematā Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said about 6.30am police received several reports of gunshots heard around the Tui Park area.

“Police attended and found several bullet casings outside an address on nearby Rambler Cres,” Harrison said.

“A home and a vehicle had sustained some damage but thankfully, no one was injured during the incident.”

A neighbour said about10 seconds after he heard the gunshots, he saw two teenagers running across Tui Park and down the nearby track.

“They did seem to be moving pretty fast and it was quite awkward because the ground is wet.”

He estimated the pair were in their early to mid-teens.

“They seemed like they wanted to get out of there pretty quickly,” he said.

“They didn’t look like they were carrying anything that could impede them, but there was something small in their hands.”

Hours after the early morning attack forensic teams could be seen combing the grass in front of the Beach Haven Scout Hall across the road from the parked ute.

Ellis said the neighbours were in shock after what happened.

“Kids go to Tui Park all the time. My kids play in Tui Park all the time. The people here really love Beach Haven,” he said.

“The locals aren’t intimidated, we aren’t afraid and it’s very much a family-orientated suburb.”

Police at a property on Rambler Cres in Beach Haven after shots were fired in the Tui Park area.

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.