At least two dead, plus the assailant, very close to Eden Park
MADRID, 20 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The city of Auckland, venue for the opening match of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, experienced a shooting this Thursday morning with two fatalities after the assault of a 24-year-old man in the financial district, who also lost his life in the police response, just five kilometers from Eden Park where New Zealand and Norway will open the World Cup.
The attacker entered a building under construction on Queen Street and opened fire causing panic and killing two. The action of the emergency services prevented a major tragedy and killed the shooter. The police reported these deaths and multiple injuries, six of them seriously, and the Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, did not take long to give a press conference to give the first official details before traveling to Auckland.
The fatal shooting occurred after 7:00 a.m. local time, a few hours before the start of the World Cup, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with New Zealand, one of the hosts of the tournament along with Australia, against Norway. The Eden Park in the city of Auckland is located less than five kilometers from Queen Street, also very close to several hotels where the national teams are concentrated, but Hipkins clarified that the FIFA tournament will go ahead by doubling security.
The New Zealand Prime Minister thanked “the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran towards the shots, directly into danger, to save the lives of others”, and assured that the threat was dealt with as an “isolated incident” and not “national security”, as the Police also noted on their Twitter account, communicating what happened.
The mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown, appeared on public radio to lament the tragedy with which the city rose and ask the population to avoid traveling to the center while the investigation continues as the streets are closed.
For his part, the Minister of Sports and Recreational Activities, Grant Robertson, also appeared at a press conference to point out that he is in contact with FIFA and the teams. Security forces will expand their presence at the opening match but the tournament is expected to start as planned.
Spain is concentrated in the south of the country, in Palmerston North, and will debut this Friday against Costa Rica at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. The second game for Jorge Vilda’s team is at Eden Park in Auckland, on Wednesday the 26th against Zambia, while they will close Group C again in the capital against Japan on the 31st.