The New Zealand Herald

‘SHOOTER!’

Exclusive Witness recounts moment of terror as shots fired in downtown hotel

- Julia Gabel, Emma Russell and Jared Savage

Aman has described “the moment of terror” when he heard gun shots while inside a luxury hotel in Auckland yesterday morning. A gun was fired soon after 9am at Sofitel hotel at the Viaduct, sparking a citywide response with armed officers and the Eagle helicopter.

Up to 20 officers carrying guns were seen entering the lobby while customers and staff were bundled out to safety through a separate entrance.

The Herald has been told the shooting was linked to rising gang tensions.

The witness, who does not want to be identified, said he heard two gunshots. “The sound reverberat­ed through the hotel. There were two shots. A second apart. Bang. Bang.”

A colleague then stood up and shouted “shooter!”

“It was actually the authentici­ty of [my colleague’s] reaction ... that made it very scary. When some calls ‘shooter', that's almost like an Americanis­m that we are not used to. It gave us a sense [at that moment] of what it might be like in the US.”

The man was with a group of people and they turned the lights off in the area they were in.

“We reacted as if we were threatened. We reacted as if we were in danger, and we felt we were.

“That time of when we didn't know what was going on probably only lasted a minute, and then everything subsided, because the shooter had gone, but the police didn't treat it as if they had gone, so they came in to secure the hotel.”

The Herald understand­s members of the Head Hunters had opened fire after coming across members of the Mongols in the hotel, sparking the armed police callout.

A source said police suspect the act of violence could have been retributio­n for the Mongols who were suspected of opening fire on the Head Hunters gang pad early on Sunday.

Police Minister Poto Williams also said she understood the incident was linked to conflict between the Head

Hunters and Mongols gangs.

The witness praised the police response, adding there was still a “heavy police presence” at the scene in the early afternoon.

He also said hotel staff had been “fantastic” throughout the ordeal.

“I felt sorry for the staff. It was a terrible shock for them, but their reaction was just outstandin­g, and profession­al, and continued to be before, during and after the event.

“They followed up with everyone to make sure we were all okay. They apologised, not that they had anything to apologise for.”

A police spokesman said early inquiries have establishe­d that those involved appear to have links to organised crime groups.

One person found at the scene is assisting police with their inquiries.

Soon after the CBD incident, police also attended a property in ra¯kei, with the Eagle helicopter involved.

Police were yesterday talking to two people who were at that address.

Gang expert Jarrod Gilbert told the Herald the escalation of very serious public violence was hugely concerning. “This isn't a gang issue, it's a certain chapter of certain groups and those chapters need to be targeted and policed incredibly hard.”

Blanket policing against those specific groups, rather than entire gangs, was needed so that they know any inappropri­ate or unacceptab­le behaviour will be prosecuted to the full extent, from roading incidents to the more serious crimes, he said.

Targeting gangs as a whole would be a waste of resources, he said.

The gang scene in New Zealand was fundamenta­lly changing, with new participan­ts coming on board and new gangs setting up an establishe­d territory, which has been creating conflict, Gilbert said.

“We have seen this in the past when there’s been growth in the scene and violence is an inevitable consequenc­e of that.”

The Sofitel shooting happened days after someone opened fire on the Auckland headquarte­rs of the

Head Hunters gang in the middle of the night in Ellerslie. The Marua Rd address of the gang’s East chapter was sprayed with semi-automatic gunfire during the brazen attack.

Meanwhile, police have set up a specialist Firearms Investigat­ions Team in Auckland to identify illegal supply chains of firearms.

Detective Superinten­dent Greg Williams said the ring-fenced squad was modelled on the specialist teams in some Australian police states.

“We’ve been thinking about this for some time, and it was timely to start a firearms team as part of Operation Tauwhiro,” said Williams, who heads the National Organised Crime Group.

“The focus will be on people who are diverting guns, converting guns and stealing guns for organised criminals.”

The Herald reported in December that worsening gun violence linked to gang turf wars, illicit drugs and organised crime had left more than 350 people with firearms injuries across Auckland in five years.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff had written to the Police Minister expressing his concerns.

The Sofitel shooting came on the same day as three men made their first appearance in the Manukau District Court, jointly charged with the murder of Meliame Fisi’ihoi.

The 57-year-old grandmothe­r was shot dead early on January 15 last year through the window of her front door after waking up to answer it.

 ?? Photo / Jason Oxenham ?? O¯
Police stand guard outside the Sofitel Hotel on Auckland's Viaduct yesterday after gang members opened fire in the hotel, possibly in retributio­n for an attack on a gang pad at the weekend.
Photo / Jason Oxenham O¯ Police stand guard outside the Sofitel Hotel on Auckland's Viaduct yesterday after gang members opened fire in the hotel, possibly in retributio­n for an attack on a gang pad at the weekend.

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