Two people have been killed in a shooting in Auckland, New Zealand, hours before the start of the FIFA Women's World Cup. Six others, including a police officer, were injured.
After the incident at a construction site in the main business area of the city, the gunman himself also died at around 7:30 local time.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the attack was not being treated as a terrorist act. He said that the incident has not affected the World Cup and the tournament will continue as planned.
"The public can rest assured that the police have neutralized the threat and that there is now no danger following the incident on Queen Street," he said.
The Prime Minister said that no political or ideological reason was found for the attack.
According to him, the gunman was carrying a pump-action shotgun. Hipkins thanked the "brave men and women of the New Zealand police who rushed to the scene of the shooting to save civilians."
"Incidents like this move very quickly and the actions of those who put their lives at risk to save others in such situations are heroic," he said.
How safe are the players?
According to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, all FIFA staff and football teams have been informed of their condition and are safe. Earlier, he had asked people to stay at home and not travel to the city. He termed the shooting as a 'terrible incident'.
The opening match will be between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park.
The country's sports minister, Grant Robertson, assured security and said more police would be deployed in the area.
According to police, they initially received a report of a man firing a gun inside a construction site. It is said that the gunmen kept firing continuously inside the building.
The man then got into the elevator and police tried to talk to him. The man continued to fire for some time and after some time he was found dead, police said.
After the incident, there was a heavy presence of armed police in the main business area, a short distance from the waterfront and fan park.
National Women's Soccer League Chief Sporting Director Tatyana Heaney is sitting near the scene of the shooting.
She told BBC News that she was woken by police cars and told to stay inside.
"Now we feel safe," she said.
What do we know about this edition of the Women's World Cup?
This time the Women's World Cup is being held in New Zealand and Australia. For the first time, the Women's World Cup is going to be jointly organized by two countries.
This is the ninth edition of the competition.
32 countries including the world champion USA are participating in this competition. The organizers are expecting around one lakh spectators to watch the opening matches.
It is tipped to be the most watched Women's World Cup ever with over 1.3 million tickets sold in advance for the 64 matches across 10 different venues in nine cities.
The organizers have set a target of reaching two billion television viewers for this 2023 edition. That number is double the number of viewers who watched the World Cup in France in 2019.
“Women are the future. Thank you to the fans who supported the biggest FIFA Women's World Cup ever,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Along with the Republic of Ireland, Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines and Portugal are also participating in the World Cup for the first time.
The number one team in the world USA is aiming to win the world title for the fifth time while Zambia is ranked 77th.
The final match of the competition will be held on August 20 at Stadium Australia.
