Tensions high as gang shooting rocks street
The smell of smoke cut through the air down a Whanganui street yesterday as Mongrel Mob members congregated, staying close to their fallen brother.
Kevin Ratana, or ‘‘Kastro’’, had links to the Mob and was shot and killed on Tuesday morning in what is believed to be an attack by a rival gang.
Police, who have confirmed both the gunman and Ratana were ‘‘known’’ to them, were still hunting the shooter yesterday as part of a homicide investigation.
Tensions in the area had been escalating for months, with a new youth gang increasing friction between old rivals, Black Power and Mongrel Mob, according to the mother of Ratana’s partner.
But gang conflict is nothing new in Puriri St.
This is the same street where toddler Jhia Te Tua lost her life 11 years ago.
The 2-year-old was shot dead in a gang-related drive-by shooting while asleep in her Whanganui home just 400 metres from Tuesday’s shooting.
Mongrel Mob associates opened fire as they drove past Jhia’s house on May 5, 2007.
The bullet was intended for her father, Black Power member Joshua Te Tua.
Down the road from Puriri St, in Cross St, Paul Kumeroa died after being beaten while out walking at 10pm on September 23, 2008.
His crime? Wearing a red jersey in the Black Power area of town.
Family members said Ratana, who is linked with the Mongrel Mob, was starting a new phase in his life, with his new partner and her stepchildren.
The pair had plans to move to a safer house in Whanganui, because Puriri St is in
The suburb is normally associated with blue but yesterday it was seeing red.
Castlecliff, the heart of Black Power turf.
The suburb is normally associated with blue but yesterday it was seeing red.
Red bandannas were tied to street signs and patched Mongrel Mob members lined the street by the cordon, where Ratana’s body lay.
The Mao¯ ri Fellowship Church, which is on the corner near where the shooting happened, provided shelter for the friends and family who gathered.
The smell of cigarettes wafted through the air and the street felt eerily calm.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said the street was normally bustling with activity, but had gone quiet after the shooting.
She had lived on the street for about three years and said she knew the woman who lived in the house as their children were friends.
The area was child-friendly, surrounded by kindergartens and schools.
‘‘It’s pretty safe. You see all the gang members walking past but they don’t annoy you.’’
She felt safe living in the area and said, since the shooting, the police had increased their presence.
However, not everyone seems to feel this way.
Most of the houses near the cordon were empty, with one family driving off in a car packed with belongings.
For most of yesterday the street was silent, with the tui song the only constant sound.
But by mid-afternoon a roaring haka shattered the silence.
A sea of red flooded the street as Ratana’s body was loaded into a hearse and driven from the scene.
Car tyres were spinning and the crowd cried out until the hearse was no longer visible.
Police were continuing investigations and forensic examinations at the house but have said they believe more than one person carried out the shooting, before escaping in a vehicle.
No-one has been arrested yet.