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Homicide investigation after campervan shooting in Raglan
Ruby Nyika and Dominico Zapata15:14, Aug 16 2019
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MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Police found a body inside this stolen campervan.
Police have launched a homicide investigation after a man's body was discovered inside a white campervan, following a pre-dawn shooting in Raglan.
A 33-year-old Australian man was killed in what police have described as an "absolutely tragic incident".
The shooter remains at large, sparking a major manhunt throughout Waikato.
Extra police have been brought into the district and a general arming order is in place for all officers in the Waikato.
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Armed Offenders Squad members at Puke Rd.
"It is obviously concerning that we have an armed offender outstanding and we want to assure our Waikato community that our absolute priority is locating him as soon as possible and holding him to account," Waikato District Crime Manager Detecitive Inspector Graham Pitkethley said.
It comes after a man smashed through an Apollo rental campervan on Whaanga Rd in Raglan at 3.20am on Friday.
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
An officer and paramedic work through the open door of the campervan where the body of a man was found on Friday morning.
It was unknown whether there was a struggle before the man was shot.
An Australian man and Canadian woman were sleeping inside inside the vehicle when the stranger fired a "number of shots", injuring the man.
The 32-year-old woman escaped uninjured, fleeing to a nearby address, where she called police.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
Police guard the scene at Te Toto gorge carpark near Raglan.
The offender stole the van with the man's body inside, which was located by police in Gordonton, near Hamilton, shortly before 8am.
"Sadly the body of the male victim was located inside the vehicle."
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Police cordons around the campervan scene.
The victim is yet to be formally identified police were in the process of notifying his next of kin throughout Friday afternoon.
The shooting is believed to be a "random attack," Pitkethley said.
"Police are working hard to identify the and locate the man responsible."
About an hour later a couple sleeping in an Apollo campervan in Raglan woke to armed police who were on the hunt for an offender involved in the man's death.
The innocent couple were told to put their hands up and come out.
Police and the AOS descended on the Manu Bay carpark looking for a "shooter".
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DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
A couple in a campervan at Raglan were woken by the Armed Offenders Squad before dawn.
"We got told to put our hands up, come outside," Kyle John-Roebuck Allan told Stuff. "[Police] pretty much told us what had happened.
"Obviously the suspect they were looking for, they thought, had taken an Apollo wagon... they took us outside, made sure the suspect wasn't inside our vehicle - that was at 4.30am this morning."
Police told Allan there had been a shooting and the suspect was at large.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
Police speak to tourists heading through the Te Toto Gorge.
Once police had searched their van, one officer stayed to take the couple's details while the others continued around the coast, he said.
He and his partner Cat Murray are from Bethells Beach in West Auckland, and had stopped in Raglan for a quiet night on their anniversary.
The incident police are investigating is understood to have unfolded before dawn on Friday, south of the popular beach town, near the Karioi Summit Track entrance, at Te Toto Gorge.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
"We got told to put our hands up, come outside," Kyle John-Roebuck Allan said. He's pictured with partner Cat Murray.
Police vehicles were blocking off the roadside car park about 9am and an area of gravel was covered with a tarpaulin.
Hours after the shooting, police descended upon an abandoned Apollo campervan in which they found the dead man's body.
The Homicide Report
A Stuff investigation into why New Zealanders kill
ANALYSISDATABASESTORIES
Armed police, an ambulance and detectives were waiting outside two cordons after 8am but a single officer and a paramedic were seen with medical equipment working through an open door.
Early on Friday, police said they were still piecing together what happened and released few details.
However, they asked anyone who had seen the campervan to contact the Hamilton Police on 07 858 6200 or provide information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
According to The Homicide Report, a major Stuff data investigation, there have been at least 42 homicides in New Zealand this year, excluding the 51 people killed in the Christchurch terror attack.
Tourists feature rarely in the country's homicide statistics.
* An earlier version of this story reported that armed police surrounded a car in a sportsground carpark in Hamilton. Police have since confirmed that the incident was not related to the homicide investigation.
Ruby Nyika and Dominico Zapata15:14, Aug 16 2019
Share
Play Video
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Police found a body inside this stolen campervan.
Police have launched a homicide investigation after a man's body was discovered inside a white campervan, following a pre-dawn shooting in Raglan.
A 33-year-old Australian man was killed in what police have described as an "absolutely tragic incident".
The shooter remains at large, sparking a major manhunt throughout Waikato.
Extra police have been brought into the district and a general arming order is in place for all officers in the Waikato.
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Armed Offenders Squad members at Puke Rd.
"It is obviously concerning that we have an armed offender outstanding and we want to assure our Waikato community that our absolute priority is locating him as soon as possible and holding him to account," Waikato District Crime Manager Detecitive Inspector Graham Pitkethley said.
It comes after a man smashed through an Apollo rental campervan on Whaanga Rd in Raglan at 3.20am on Friday.
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
An officer and paramedic work through the open door of the campervan where the body of a man was found on Friday morning.
It was unknown whether there was a struggle before the man was shot.
An Australian man and Canadian woman were sleeping inside inside the vehicle when the stranger fired a "number of shots", injuring the man.
The 32-year-old woman escaped uninjured, fleeing to a nearby address, where she called police.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
Police guard the scene at Te Toto gorge carpark near Raglan.
The offender stole the van with the man's body inside, which was located by police in Gordonton, near Hamilton, shortly before 8am.
"Sadly the body of the male victim was located inside the vehicle."
MARK TAYLOR/STUFF
Police cordons around the campervan scene.
The victim is yet to be formally identified police were in the process of notifying his next of kin throughout Friday afternoon.
The shooting is believed to be a "random attack," Pitkethley said.
"Police are working hard to identify the and locate the man responsible."
About an hour later a couple sleeping in an Apollo campervan in Raglan woke to armed police who were on the hunt for an offender involved in the man's death.
The innocent couple were told to put their hands up and come out.
Police and the AOS descended on the Manu Bay carpark looking for a "shooter".
Share
Play Video
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
A couple in a campervan at Raglan were woken by the Armed Offenders Squad before dawn.
"We got told to put our hands up, come outside," Kyle John-Roebuck Allan told Stuff. "[Police] pretty much told us what had happened.
"Obviously the suspect they were looking for, they thought, had taken an Apollo wagon... they took us outside, made sure the suspect wasn't inside our vehicle - that was at 4.30am this morning."
Police told Allan there had been a shooting and the suspect was at large.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
Police speak to tourists heading through the Te Toto Gorge.
Once police had searched their van, one officer stayed to take the couple's details while the others continued around the coast, he said.
He and his partner Cat Murray are from Bethells Beach in West Auckland, and had stopped in Raglan for a quiet night on their anniversary.
The incident police are investigating is understood to have unfolded before dawn on Friday, south of the popular beach town, near the Karioi Summit Track entrance, at Te Toto Gorge.
DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF
"We got told to put our hands up, come outside," Kyle John-Roebuck Allan said. He's pictured with partner Cat Murray.
Police vehicles were blocking off the roadside car park about 9am and an area of gravel was covered with a tarpaulin.
Hours after the shooting, police descended upon an abandoned Apollo campervan in which they found the dead man's body.
The Homicide Report
A Stuff investigation into why New Zealanders kill
ANALYSISDATABASESTORIES
Armed police, an ambulance and detectives were waiting outside two cordons after 8am but a single officer and a paramedic were seen with medical equipment working through an open door.
Early on Friday, police said they were still piecing together what happened and released few details.
However, they asked anyone who had seen the campervan to contact the Hamilton Police on 07 858 6200 or provide information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
According to The Homicide Report, a major Stuff data investigation, there have been at least 42 homicides in New Zealand this year, excluding the 51 people killed in the Christchurch terror attack.
Tourists feature rarely in the country's homicide statistics.
* An earlier version of this story reported that armed police surrounded a car in a sportsground carpark in Hamilton. Police have since confirmed that the incident was not related to the homicide investigation.
