Gunman who killed two also likely dead

Residents of a rural Northland community were ‘‘freaked out’’ after a shooting left two women dead yesterday.

Their suspected killer is also believed to be dead, after the house he holed up in about 10km east of Whangarei later burnt down.

Another man was also shot and was in a stable condition in Whangarei Hospital.

Michael Jordan lives across from the address where the drama unfolded in Mt Tiger Rd, and said he was baffled about what made his neighbour lash out.

‘‘He was the sort of guy who would drive past, and you’d wave,’’ Jordan said. ‘‘You might be mowing the lawn and he’d stop and say hello, but he pretty much kept to himself.’’

A resident on nearby Whareora Rd asked a journalist to come with her while she checked to make sure there was nobody in her garage, because she wasn’t sure if she had left the door open herself.

She said the shooting had left her 7-year-old daughter ‘‘freaked out’’ and she was considering leaving the area for the night.

Jordan said shooting was fairly common in the area, so he wouldn’t have thought anything if he had heard shots being fired.

He guessed his neighbour – the suspected gunman – was in his mid-50s, and understood the man had been renting the property.

The two women who died, believed to be related to each other, arrived at the house to carry out a property inspection along with another man yesterday morning. The man in the house opened fire, killing them and leaving the other man with serious injuries.

Police were called a short time later and dozens of emergency vehicles rushed to the area, including police cars, ambulances, fire trucks and the Eagle helicopter.

Northland District Commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou said it was ‘‘very unlikely’’ the gunman survived after a stand-off with police later in the afternoon.

Officers tried to negotiate with the man, but he fired several shots at them. They shot back, also using tear gas, and the house went up in flames soon after, about 3.45pm.

Le Prou said police knew the identity of the gunman and reassured the public the incident was ‘‘definitely’’ not gang-related.

Road blocks were set up to the north and southeast for much of the day, and a cordon will remain in place around the immediate scene of the shooting while scene examinations are completed.

The fire at the property was mostly extinguished, although a number of police and fire crews remained at the scene last night.