"It was love at first sight for them," the woman's cousin, Te Kahukoka-Rose Yelash, 19, told the Herald.
She spoke outside the family home on Glass Rd, with tears rolling down to her chin, while a forensics team dressed in boiler suits continued their investigation inside the house and armed police guarded the scene.
"He was a very strong person and he was well loved. He was cheeky, very cheeky, but it was all love. He had our backs through everything, he just wanted the best for everyone," she said.
Yelash was in shock when her cousin messaged her this morning saying he was dead.
"I was trying to call her but she wasn't answering. I know why, she's in a lot of pain. That's why I came to the house because I thought they would be here but no, I turn up to this."
"I was the one who got them together, we went to the club and I saw the bro and because I knew him from way back, I pulled him over to dance and that's when he met her," Yelash said.
The last time Yelash saw her "cheeky friend" was about a month ago when he was begging her to come over for Christmas.
"And literally two days ago he was telling me again to come over for Christmas. We were going to have a family lunch and maybe a few beers after."
She said he was a great barber.
"He pushed me to do barbering and supported me, even when I wanted to give up because I was sh*t at fades but he would come and teach me," Yelash said.
"I just never expected anything like this."
Manhunt under way
Detective Inspector Scott Beard said two armed men entered the Glass Rd property about 9.30pm.
Following an altercation with the occupants, a 23-year-old man was fatally shot and two other men, in their 30s and 50s, were attacked with a machete, receiving "significant injuries to their arms".
Both remain in hospital. A fourth person was uninjured and is assisting police with inquiries.
"The offenders have fled the scene and police are now focused on working to
identify them as quickly as possible," Beard said.
"We want to reassure the community that this appears to be an isolated incident and a targeted attack by these offenders.
"The investigation is still in its very early stages and we are still working to establish the full circumstances surrounding this attack and our priority is to identify these offenders as soon as we can."
The victim and other household members are linked to the HFK gang, the Herald has been told.
Beard told media this afternoon it was too early to say if the attack was gang-related.
"That's part of our investigation. We've heard that but we have no evidence."
Beard couldn't confirm or deny a link to HFK but believed the street gang had been around the Avondale and Mt Roskill areas for some time.
A scene investigation is underway and a post-mortem is expected to take place tomorrow.
The investigation team is carrying out area inquiries to determine if residents saw or heard anything that might assist the investigation.
A visible police presence will remain in the Mt Roskill area over the coming days.
Beard said police were very aware of gun violence affecting the city, saying they took it seriously and had made arrests relating to recent firearms incidents.
Police "had to assume" the two wanted men were armed.
The Herald has been told by a separate source a machete and a gun were used in the altercation that led to the 23-year-old's death.
Police were still hunting for two people who burst into the Mt Roskill home, shooting the man and badly injuring two others before fleeing.
It's understood the man who died lived there with his girlfriend, her dad and other siblings.
Labour MP Michael Wood, who represents Mt Roskill, lives just one street over from the scene of the crime and said the community was in shock.
"I've lived her for about 18 years and it's a really nice community, people really support each other, so an event like this is quite shocking and upsetting for people," Wood said.
"I've been speaking to a few of our community leaders by phone and they re-affirmed that people are feeling pretty unsettled at the moment.
Wood said there had been a number of incidences in the area over a period of time.
"Police, social workers and others had been working in the community dealing with those issues but obviously no one expected a very serious and violent incident like this one.
"Once the police have finished at the scene, we will need to be doing some work to pull people together and provide some reassurance and also to talk about how we make sure this place is as safe as possible for people to live," he said.
