A shooting in the center of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, just hours before the opening of the Womens World Cup rattled the city as tens of thousands gathered to watch New Zealand play Norway in the first game of the tournament.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins outlined details of the attack in a hastily called news conference, confirming that 2 people had died, in addition to the gunman, and several others were injured.

Hipkins said the soccer tournament would proceed as planned, adding the shooting appeared to be the actions of an individual and that police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.

“There was no identified political or ideological motivation for the shooting and therefore no national security risk,” Hipkins said.

There would be no change to New Zealand’s security threat level although there would be an increased police presence in the city, he added.

New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said one officer was shot as he attempted to engage the gunman, and four civilians had “moderate to critical injuries.” Coster said the suspect was under home detention orders but had an exemption to work at the construction site where the shooting took place, and the incident was believed to be related to his work there.

The man had a “family violence history” but there was “nothing to suggest that he has presented a high level risk,” Coster said. He did not have a firearms license, he added.

Auckland has welcomed thousands of international players and tourists for the ninth Women’s World Cup which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

“Obviously we would prefer it not to have started in this way,” Hipkins told journalists later in the day.

“It will be acknowledged what happened today at the opening ceremony. And I will be going, it is safe to go and we continue to encourage the whole community to get behind this,” he said.

Shootings are relatively rare in New Zealand, especially following the introduction of strict gun laws in 2019 after a mass shooting in Christchurch left 50 people dead.

Source: Qatar News Agency