There have been at least 23 drive-by shootings in the last two weeks in Auckland as a feud between two motorcycle gangs boils over into the city's streets.
Police Minister Poto Williams revealed the scale of the conflict under questioning in Parliament on Tuesday, saying the shootings were linked to two unnamed gangs.
They are believed to be the Killer Beez and the Tribesmen, who were previously allies but are now in open conflict.
Williams - who has again come under pressure from the Opposition about her suitability for the ministerial role - said the tit-for-tat violence on Auckland streets was "incredibly distressing" for communities, while adding that police were "working diligently at pace" to respond to it.
And an Auckland councillor has described the gun violence as "shocking" and is has called on family members of those involved to step in.
The escalation in violence across Auckland follows an earlier series of shootings in Northland in March, also linked to the two gangs.
While no one has been seriously injured in the shootings, there are concerns about the high-powered weapons being used, the number of innocent residents caught up in the violence, and the dizzying rate of the attacks - including seven shootings in a single night.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon yesterday called for Williams to be replaced.
"People are feeling incredibly unsafe in their homes and communities and the second reality is that frontline police actually want to get on and crack down on gangs but they don't have the tools to do so," he said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had confidence in Williams, while not directly answering a question about whether she would still hold her police portfolio after the next Cabinet reshuffle.
The series of drive-by shootings began on the weekend of March 21 with three incidents in Red Hill, Mangere and Flat Bush.
The Red Hill property on Brooke Rd was riddled with bullets shot from a passing car, police reported at the time, though no one was injured. One officer told a resident that they had found 44 bullet casings on the street.
One resident, Dr Urie Bezuidenhout, said he heard sounds "like a loud zipper sound – that is my best description". The shots lasted for three to five seconds and were fired "too fast for a conventional firearm", he said.
The Flat Bush property, which was also shot at, was tied to a senior Killer Beez member.
The following night, a car drove up and down Phoenix Place in Papatoetoe at 11.30pm before someone in the vehicle fired several shots at a property. Bullet holes could be seen in one of the windows at the home.
The next night, a Monday, a home at Clayton Ave in Otara was shot at. On the same night, a volley of shots were fired in the Far North town of Kaikohe, a traditional Tribesmen stronghold which has seen a growing Killer Beez presence. The two shootings were believed to be linked.
Police said innocent parties were starting to get caught up in the conflict. On at least one occasion, houses which were struck by bullets had no known gang links.
"It is extremely fortunate that no one has been harmed in these incidents," said detective inspector Warrick Adkin, of Counties Manukau.
"These offenders have shown they have no regard for the safety of their community."
A night later, on Tuesday May 24, violence exploded across the city. In all, police reported seven separate shootings late at night and in the early morning, in Henderson, Papatoetoe, Ōtara, Flat Bush, Papakura, Mt Albert and Te Atatū.
Two of the homes caught up in the shootings had no known gang links.
A resident on Glen Osborne Terrace in Flat Bush said he found a bullet in the walk-in wardrobe of his bedroom after one of the shootings.
The stray bullet appeared to have ricocheted off a van in the driveway, into the garage, then through to the wardrobe.
"I heard it last night but it wasn't until this morning that I realised it went into our place," the resident, Jimmy Tamaki, said. "I thought it was fireworks."
"There's three of us in here. It's eye-opening. Just caught in the crossfire, [it's] too close to home. It literally hit my house. I think there's some bullet holes in the fence as well."
Other residents said the house which was targeted was owned by a young father who had gang connections and had spent time in prison.
On Rathagar Rd in Henderson, a mother said she was woken by dogs barking outside her property at around 11pm. She pulled the blinds and caught a glimpse of someone, before five bullets were shot through her bedroom window, narrowly missing her.
"The shots that were fired just missed my head by inches and if it weren't for the [bullets hitting the] bricks, it probably would have got my kid as well."
Responding to the growing conflict, a district-wide order was made for all police officers to be temporarily armed.
Superintendent Jill Rogers said a number of the weapons used in the shootings were believed to be high-powered rifles - increasing the risk of innocent bystanders getting hit.
At the time, no arrests had been made.
The following night, two further shootings were reported in Massey and Mellons Bay, near Howick.
At the Mellons Bay property, four gunshot holes could be seen in a window.
No one was injured and police would not confirm at the time if there was any link to the incidents over the previous days.
After a chaotic five days with nightly shootings, there was a brief hiatus. On the weekend of May 28, the violence erupted again.
A house and sleepout in Manurewa were sprayed with up to 20 bullets. On this occasion, there was no link to the Killer Beez-Tribesman rivalry. The home on Gibbs Rd was connected with a King Cobra gang member.
The same night, however, there was an arson attempt at a Barrie Ave, Papatoetoe, home believed to be linked to a Killer Beez member. The fire, set at around 1am, caused minor damage and no one was injured. It was one of multiple suspicious fires linked to the gang feud.
On Tuesday June 1, a home on Albert Rd, Manukau, was hit by around 10 bullets at about 8pm in the evening.
Abinesh Kumar said he was eating dinner when bullets flew through the living room window, narrowly missing him.
"Luckily I was sitting on the floor," he said. His friend was grazed by a bullet but escaped without serious injury.
It was believed to be a case of mistaken identity. A neighbour said young gang prospects used to live in the home but moved out before Christmas.
A mother who lived nearby said she and her infant child ducked to the floor when the gunshots rang out.
"It was so loud, we all got just down."
.Just 10 minutes later, police received another report of a house being shot up in Opaheke, a rural suburb near Drury. As in many of the previous cases, bullets cracked the windows but no one was injured.
After centring mostly on South and East Auckland, the shootings shifted to the North Shore.
In the early hours of Wednesday (June 4), a shotgun was fired into a home on Mirage Place in Beach Haven. The property was home to a couple and their grandchildren, and photos from the scene showed spent shotgun shells and windows shattered by bullet holes.
A source told the Herald her brother-in-law was the person targeted in the shooting. She said he was "an old member of the Tribesmen" who had "long been inactive but targeted in this gang war".
"He's old and been out of gang life for years," she said.
On Friday, Poto Williams was briefed by superintendent Jill Rogers on the spate of shootings.
Williams later told Parliament that police had launched a "major disruption and suppression" operation in response to the gang tensions, according to the briefing.
That operation had so far led to 22 search warrants supported by armed police, 22 arrests, 37 charges, 10 seized guns and 300 rounds of ammunition.
Accusing of being soft on crime by Opposition parties, she said that gang tensions had been a feature of New Zealand communities for more than 50 years. She urged her critics against politicising the gang violence and the police response.
A new crackdown on gangs, called Operation Cobalt, was due to start this month.
Three days after the minister's briefing, police received reports of another drive-by shooting, this time in Clover Park.
The Killer Beez began about two decades ago as a youth feeder street gang for the Tribesmen in Ōtara but relations between the groups have soured as the Killer Beez gained power and influence.
They have not recovered since the shooting of Killer Beez president Josh Masters by his former friend, Tribesmen sergeant-at-arms Okusitino Tae, in 2019.
Masters was left paralysed by the shooting but is still a prominent figure at Killer Beez patching ceremonies and motorcycle runs. Tae pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2020.
There have been several public flare-ups in tensions characterised by shootings and beatings in the ensuing years, including in Ōtara late in 2020 and in Kaikohe this year.
Manukau ward councillor and former long-serving South Auckland police officer Alf Filipaina has led criticism of the violence in his area.
He previously said he was dismayed about the prevalence of gun crime, saying it had become especially noticeable in the past three years.
"It's just shocking. People just don't care about using firearms."
Filipaina said he would be taking the issue up with Jill Rogers, Counties Manukau district commander, to see if there was anything he or the council could do to help. "I'm quite adamant in putting the onus on the families who know where these firearms are."
The councillor reiterated his call for more funding for youth workers, which he said had been highly effective when introduced in the area about 15 years ago, after a spate of homicides, before funding dried up a few years later.
"I've been a broken record. It wraps the family around, it goes into the family and finds out why they're doing this, why they're going into gangs," Filipaina said.