By Tara John, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Hira Humayun | CNN
At least two people have died in central Auckland following a serious incident, which the city’s mayor described as a shooting to New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ.
New Zealand police said Thursday morning local time that there were multiple injuries reported and “and at this stage we can confirm two people have died. The male offender is also deceased.”
Police have begun an investigation and are asking people to avoid the area, it said on Twitter.
CNN affiliate Newshub said it captured a man, covered in blood, being carried from the scene by police. He was treated on site by an ambulance after gunshots were heard coming from the scene, it reported.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ he is getting regular updates from police but that it is hard to know exactly what is happening.
Police earlier said that a “serious incident in Auckland CBD” was contained “to a building in lower Queen Street, which is under construction.”
Brown described it as a “dreadful thing to happen in our city at a time when the rest of the world’s watching us over the football,” to RNZ.
The reported shooting casts a cloud over the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which is set to kick off later on Thursday in Auckland.
“This is not something that happens here, in fact I’m shocked that it’s happened here,” Brown told RNZ.
Brown asked residents to avoid travel to the city’s center. “This is a scary situation for Aucklanders on their Thursday morning commute to work. Please stay at home, avoid travel into the city center,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Auckland Transport says passengers coming in to the city should delay travel. Cordons are in place funneling people away from the area. All of the connecting streets are closed,” he added.
New Zealand’s parliament voted to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons in 2019, weeks after the Christchurch massacre left 50 people dead.
Then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told lawmakers they were giving “a voice” to those killed in the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques, which Ardern described as “the darkest of days in New Zealand’s history.”