An Auckland man taking out his rubbish dropped it and put his hands in the air when two men dressed in black blasted a hole in a neighbouring garage.
Those living in Onehunga’s Ahuwhenua Crescent say they are shaken following a shooting last night at a Kāinga Ora property complex.
It was one of two drive-by shootings targeting Auckland homes on Wednesday night. A second home in Māngere East was also damaged by gunfire 30 minutes later.
The gunmen are still at large, with police hunting for those responsible and examining a possible connection between the two shootings.
A large shotgun blast was left after a Onehunga house was targeted last night. Photo / Dean Purcell
This morning, a neighbour of the damaged Onehunga property said she saw two men dressed all in black walk down a shared driveway and shoot once at a garage before leaving on foot.
“I had just come home 15 minutes earlier … it’s pretty scary, if I was any later I would have got caught up in it,” a woman told the Herald.
Another neighbour had a near miss as he took out his rubbish when the gunmen arrived to shoot the house at 10.30pm.
A Onehunga house's garage had a large hole blown through in after a shooting. Photo / Dean Purcell
He said he dropped the rubbish, put his hands in the air and managed to escape without injury.
The loud bang of the shotgun through the garage door and into a parked car shocked him.
”I thought someone had hit my car,” he said.
Photos from the scene show a large shotgun blast through the garage and a car littered with pellets inside.
Police were then dispatched to Haddon St in Māngere East shortly after 11pm following a second home being shot at.
A 24-year-old man, who wished to remain anonymous, raced over to the street this morning to ensure a relative of his, who lived there, was safe.
“I grew up here, we don’t have gangs on this street, this is a family street,” he said.
“I was shocked.”
Police at the scene of an overnight shooting in Mangere East. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The man said his relative thought she heard fireworks before she looked outside and saw police.
“She was panicking,” he said.
Auckland City Crime Squad Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend said at 10.28pm police responded to reports of a firearm being discharged at a Onehunga address.
Friend said police are scouring CCTV and “following positive lines of enquiry”.
Several bullet holes were visible in the home’s windows, according to a Herald photographer at the scene.
Stickers point to apparent bullet holes in the windows of a Mangere East house. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Detectives placed at least 18 forensic markers where bullet casings were found on the roadway outside the address.
Police at both scenes were unable to comment on the night’s events but confirmed both incidents were serious and firearms-related.
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