Members of the Philippines Women’s World Cup team walk to their team bus following a shooting near their hotel in the central business district in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. A gunman killed two people before he died Thursday at a construction site in Auckland, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and six others were wounded in a shooting at the capital city, merely hours ahead of the curtain-raiser between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is all set to get underway on the 20th of July, but ahead of the women’s showpiece in Australia and New Zealand, there was a catastrophic event in the Kiwi capital city of Auckland.
At least two people and an armed attacker were killed and six others were wounded in a shooting at the capital city, merely hours ahead of the curtain-raiser between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said that the shooting was the work of an individual and added that there were no apparent political or ideological motivations behind the horrendous incident.
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“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland. The government has spoken to FIFA organisers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned,” Hipkins said.
“I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the actions of one individual,” the PM added.
NZ Football confirmed that the national contingent was safe following the unforeseen event.
“New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland this morning.We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe.”
The shooting happened close to the lodging of the Norwegian team, who also confirmed that they were safe and that any further instructions from the authorities will be held up with utmost caution and followed.
“At first we didn’t know what was going on, but eventually there were updates on TV and the local media,” Norway skipper Maren Mjelde said.
“We felt safe the whole time. FIFA has a good security system at the hotel and we have our own security officer in the squad,” she added.
“Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight. Then we may have to adapt if there are any instructions from the authorities,” the 33-year-old captain said.
Defending champions USA, who are also based in Auckland said, “Our security team is in communication with local authorities and we are proceeding with our daily schedule.”