Two killed in New Zealand shooting hours before the Women’s World Cup
Conrad Hoyt
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A gunman opened fire in a building in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday, mere hours before the 2023 Women’s World Cup began in the city.
Two people were killed, and at least five others, including a police officer, were injured in the mass shooting. The gunman is also dead. The police officer was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to police, but his condition has stabilized.
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While the shooting has startled organizers and supporters of the tournament, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being seen as an act of terrorism and the Women’s World Cup would go on.
The country’s leader thanked “the brave men and women of the New Zealand police who ran into the gunfire, straight into harm’s way, in order to save the lives of others,” per the BBC. “These kinds of situations move fast, and the actions of those who risk their lives to save others are nothing short of heroic.”
Police said the gunman, who has not yet been named, was armed with a pump-action shotgun and moved through the building under construction where he is believed to have worked. The shooting was not far from where Norway’s national team is staying for the tournament, according to the New York Times.
New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the gunman was under a home detention order but had permission to be at the construction site. Police reportedly knew of him because he had a history of domestic violence, with possibly also “some indications of mental health history.”
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The Women’s World Cup begins Thursday at 3 a.m. Washington time, with host country New Zealand facing Norway. The defending champion United States, who won the tournament in 2015 and 2019, plays against Vietnam on Friday at 9 p.m.
The U.S. women’s soccer team has won the most Women’s World Cups of any team, with four, and will look to win their third straight tournament this year, something no team, men’s or women’s, has ever done.