The Women’s World Cup soccer tournament kicked off in New Zealand Thursday evening with amped-up security after a deadly shooting about 12 hours earlier.
Two people plus the suspect died in the shooting at a construction site in downtown Auckland, near a touristed area, the harbor ferry terminal, and close to team Norway’s hotel.
All players were safe and accounted for, and the shooting was an isolated incident, New Zealand authorities said.
Nonetheless, spectators for the first match, between Norway and New Zealand, were encouraged to arrive early. Officials closed most of the roads around the stadium in Eden Park hours ahead of the game.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Fatma Samoura were coordinating closely with local authorities and participating teams in the vicinity, the soccer organization said in a statement.
A welcome party that was to be hosted by Tourism New Zealand on Thursday afternoon was canceled, since the venue fell within the area that was cordoned off after the tragic incident, near the hotels housing several teams.
The Pinstripe Express
The gunman had began blasting away with a shotgun just before 7:30 a.m. local time, according to emergency calls that flooded in. Police arrived minutes later, running toward the gunfire, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.
Six people were wounded, including a police officer, before the suspect barricaded himself in an elevator, where he was later found dead after a shootout with police, Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel said. It was not clear whether the gunman died by his own hand or by a police bullet.
Anofficer was hospitalized in critical condition and had since been upgraded to stable, New Zealand police said on Twitter.
Before match, which saw New Zealand win over Norway 1-0, the players held a moment of silence.
U.S. women’s national team players were among the many expressing condolences, saying the incident had brought them together in mutual focus on life.
“There wasn’t really a conversation had. Unfortunately, I feel like in the U.S. we’ve dealt with this far too many times,” USWNT forward Lynn Williams said at a news conference, according to ESPN. “But there was definitely a sense of, like, ‘let’s come together, we still have a job to do,’ but also recognizing that there were lives lost, and that is very real and very devastating.”
With News Wire Services