WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The two men who were killed at a New Zealand construction site were in their 40s and had worked alongside the gunman before he went on his rampage, police said Friday. Court records also detailed the gunman’s violent past.
New Zealanders were still in shock at Thursday’s shooting, which closed part of downtown hours before the opening game of the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, which was held under increased security.
The gunman stormed the high-rise building in the early morning, opening fire on terrified workers before dying after a police shootout. An officer who was shot and wounded remained hospitalized in stable condition Friday. Three civilians also remained hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, while two more had been released from hospital, authorities said.
Police told The Associated Press they had yet to formally identify the gunman but were not disputing reports it was Matu Reid, 24, who was serving a home detention sentence but had an exemption to work at the building site.
Court records obtained by news organization Stuff show Reid was found guilty of domestic violence after beating and strangling his then-girlfriend in 2021. The records indicate he used weapons including scissors and a wine bottle, punched her, kicked her in the stomach and squeezed her throat for about 10 seconds, causing her to fear for her life.
Reid said something along the lines of: “You don’t know what I’m capable of,” to the woman, the records show, according to Stuff. The woman escaped from Reid and called police from a gas station.
A judge in March sentenced Reid to five months in home detention.
“I do not want to send a young man like you, with a limited history, to prison,” the judge said in his sentencing notes. “I think it would be counterproductive and actually set you down the wrong path.”
Police didn’t say if there was an immediate trigger for the man’s rampage, although some media reported he had recently been fired from his job at the building site.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the shooting was an isolated act, and the FIFA tournament opened as scheduled Thursday night with a game between the home team and Norway.
More than 40,000 people attended, including the prime minister, and a moment of silence was held for the victims of the shooting. It was the largest crowd to ever watch a soccer match in New Zealand and it ended with an historic win for the home team, its first in a World Cup game.
New Zealand has tight gun laws, imposed in 2019 after the country’s worst mass shooting prompted a sea change in attitudes toward guns. In that attack, a shooter killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques during Friday prayers.
The prime minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern, vowed to ban most semiautomatic weapons within a month and she succeeded, with only a single member of Parliament voting against the ban.
A subsequent buyback scheme saw gun owners hand over more than 50,000 of the newly banned weapons to police in exchange for cash.
Police said the gunman in Thursday’s attack had used a type of shotgun that is not banned under the new laws. But he didn’t have a gun license and so shouldn’t have been in possession of a firearm, police added.
