An Auckland man who turned himself in following the fatal shooting of a teenager over the weekend will stay in jail - and keep his identity secret - for at least the next three weeks.
The 31-year-old Manurewa resident was granted interim name suppression during his first hearing for the charge at the Manukau District Court. The judge said he should be allowed time for his family, which is overseas, to learn of the case through him instead of the media.
He is expected to enter a plea at his next hearing, scheduled for November 10 at the High Court at Auckland. Defence lawyer Graeme Newell did not ask that he be remanded on bail.
Nineteen-year-old Papatoetoe resident Misiona Talafu Petelo died on Saturday evening, shortly after he was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a private vehicle, police said.
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Advertise with NZME.A shooting incident had earlier been reported on Massey Rd in Māngere, according to police.
"Police have been providing support to his whānau at this difficult time," Detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Tiernan of Counties Manukau CIB said on Monday in a statement announcing the arrest.
Friends of the teen have offered tributes on social media.
"I can't believe that our time has ended," one person said. "There was so many things I wish we could've said to each other, so many things I wish we could have experienced together."
Another person said that it "breaks my heart that you were taken so unexpectedly".
