Innocent target of shooting living in fear
Trauma of near miss is forcing woman to leave city she calls home
Late on a cool autumn evening, Auckland woman Shannon was sleeping soundly in bed.
Seconds later, she was on the floor, clutching her head — desperately searching for the bullet wound she feared would claim not only her life but that of her children.
This has been the terrifying reality for innocent Aucklanders caught up in rival gang tensions that come closer to taking a life every time the trigger is pulled.
It’s traumatised Shannon, destroying her usual social nature and replacing it with a strong distrust of new people.
It has even forced her to leave Ta¯maki Makaurau, a city she doesn’t feel safe in any more. “This is the end of Auckland for me.”
Shannon, who spoke exclusively to the Weekend Herald under the assurance of anonymity, was in bed with her children just after 11pm on Tuesday, May 24 when she heard dogs barking at her Rathgar Rd property in Henderson, West Auckland.
Pulling the blinds open, she caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure.
Then her evening was thrown into chaos when a volley of bullets smashed through her bedroom window, just missing her head.
“The shots that were fired just missed my head by inches and if it weren’t for the [bullets hitting the] bricks, it probably would have got my kid as well.”
Whether she fell or intentionally dropped to the floor, Shannon wasn’t sure. She also wasn’t aware whether she’d been hit, and grabbed her head to check.
The gun was believed to have been fired from Shannon’s driveway, with up to five bullets entering the bedroom window and side of the house on an angle.
The shooting was one of seven reported across the city that night — the others in Papatoetoe, O¯tara, Flat Bush, Papakura Mt Albert and Te Atatu¯.
The shootings have been linked to rising tensions between the Killer Beez and Tribesmen gangs — supposedly ignited by a Killer Beez senior member who allegedly turned up to a rugby league practice to threaten a rival with a gun.
Most of the houses and people involved in the shootings are believed to have connections to the gangs in some way. However, police have acknowledged innocent civilians had been caught in the crossfire.
The Herald yesterday reported a case of flatmates eating dinner being shot at — understood to be targeted because gang prospects used to live at their Manukau home.
Shannon said police had told her a similar story, saying she could be a victim of bad information.
“I’m not involved with anything, I’m not doing anything, [police] think it must just be old intel as to why my house was targeted.”
But without definitive answers, Shannon could only speculate on whether the shooting was a mistake or a deliberate attack.
She doesn’t want to step foot back in her house. When she returned, accompanied by police, she was struck by panic attacks.
“I’m traumatised, I’m pretty much jumping and flinching at any kind of noise, I’m too scared to go outside at night,” she said.
The family were initially moved into emergency housing, a motel. But loud and unruly neighbours only heightened her anxiety.
“My [child] was scared to be there and all the dysfunction was triggering for what I had been through.”
Unwilling to stay in that environment, Shannon has moved in with a relative and was sleeping on a mattress, purchased on Facebook, in the lounge.
It’s also meant she’s had to withdraw her children from school, given they no longer live locally.
“It’s turned our lives upside down completely.”
Those few seconds in late May have forced Shannon to consider drastic measures, chief among them is moving across the country.
While she already had intentions to relocate, her desire had increased tenfold.
“I could be completely overthinking things, but to safeguard me and my kids, that’s the lengths I’m going to.
“I’m living in fear at the moment because I don’t know what’s to come.”
The shooting had caused a significant change to Shannon’s mental health and personality.
Formerly, a social, confident, independent woman, Shannon had scrubbed her personal information from social media and was hyperaware of those in her inner circle.
The biggest challenge was keeping her composure for the children, who fortunately weren’t aware of the magnitude of what had happened 10 days ago.
Katrina, the family member who had taken Shannon in, said her relative had once been the “rock of the family”, but now the tables had turned.
“It’s really weird that now I’m in her shoes and she’s having to have me to lean on.”
A Givealittle page had been created on Shannon’s behalf to assist with her move from Auckland.
Asked how long it would take to recover, Shannon questioned whether she would ever truly heal.
“It’s changed my life completely, my perspective on everything has changed.”