Gunshot pair linked to Head Hunters
A patched member of the motorcycle gang was taken to Auckland City Hospital . . . hours after a Head Hunters prospect was shot.
Two men taken to hospital with gunshot wounds this week are connected to the Head Hunters gang, the Herald can reveal.
A patched member of the motorcycle gang was taken to Auckland City Hospital about 11.30pm on Wednesday with a “minor gunshot wound”, three hours after a Head Hunters prospect was shot in a Mt Wellington street. Workers at a nearby warehouse on Carbine Rd gave first aid and called 111.
Both injured men were discharged from hospital without co-operating with police. Auckland City Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Anderson said they were believed to have Head Hunters links.
“This does not appear to be a random incident,” said Anderson.
Conflict between two other gangs, the Rebels and the King Cobras, is escalating and a few months ago the Head Hunters violently feuded with the Mongols motorcycle gang.
Simmering tensions boiled over in April when the Mongols, whose senior members were deported from Australia, were suspected of firing a semi-automatic weapon at the Head Hunters’ pad in Mt Wellington.
Days later, a Head Hunter allegedly fired a pistol at a Mongol in the crowded lobby of the five-star Sofitel hotel on Auckland’s waterfront.
The open warfare led to a major investigation, with members of both gangs arrested on charges related to suspected arson and shootings.
This week’s shootings were on the same evening an innocent Manurewa woman in her 60s had a lucky escape when bullets fired at her neighbour’s house hit her home. The intended target was an associate of the Rebels motorcycle gang, which is in a tit-fortat turf war with the King Cobras. Homes, cars and businesses have been targeted in drive-by shootings or firebombing with Molotov cocktails, with at least 12 confirmed attacks since the start of May.
Two King Cobras were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds last week, but police do not believe that was part of the feud with the Rebels.
Last week, police urged the leaders of both gangs to hold peace talks and end the conflict before someone was seriously injured or killed.
“We are hopeful that they will do the right thing and resolve the tension between them peacefully; however, in the meantime, police will be actively targeting members of both gangs and holding them to account for their actions.”
Detectives are unsure what started the conflict, but the Herald understands tensions were inflamed by a senior Rebel’s social-media post staking a claim to Ma¯ngere, which the King Cobras see as their territory.
About the same time, a King Cobra “patched over” — or switched allegiances — to the Rebels, a rare move considered highly insulting in the criminal underworld, where loyalty is highly valued.