South Auckland drive-by shootings: Killer Beez gang member James Williams pleads guilty

Another Killer Beez gang member has pleaded guilty to participating in a series of drive-by shootings that were intended to send a message to rival gang the Tribesmen but instead ended up terrorising people who had nothing to do with the gang warfare.

James Williams is the fourth person to admit participating in the shootings in November 2020, after a fellow gang member's patch and motorbike were stolen.

He is set to be sentenced next month alongside co-defendants William Nelson-Bell and Paul Cassidy.

Each man faces up to 14 years in prison for one count of aggravated burglary and up to 10 years for three counts each of intentionally damaging property by shooting at homes on three different streets. The trio also faces a sentence of up to 10 years for one count each of participating in an organised criminal group.

Fellow gang member Michael Crawford, the person whose items were stolen, admitted in May to having orchestrated the shootings. He was sentenced in July to to seven years and four months in prison.

No one was injured in the shootings, but some of the damaged homes included people who were inside at the time and neighbours of the intended targets, authorities have said.

Police said more than two dozen people were believed to have been involved in the shootings, arriving from as far away as Picton after organising a meet-up via a Facebook Messenger group.

It appeared that high-powered semi-automatic firearms were used in the shootings, Justice Grant Powell said at Crawford's sentencing, describing the group as having felt "they were entitled to storm through communities in Ōtara, shooting wildly and recklessly as if they owned the place". He referred to the 2020 shootings as a precursor to the "reign of terror" in Auckland earlier this year due to rivalries between the two gangs.

Others have pleaded not guilty and await trial.