Security was heightened ahead of Thursday night바카라s opening Women바카라s World Cup game after a gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in Auckland, roughly 12 hours ahead of co-host New Zealand바카라s match against Norway.
Security was heightened ahead of Thursday night바카라s opening Women바카라s World Cup game after a gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in Auckland, roughly 12 hours ahead of co-host New Zealand바카라s match against Norway. (More Football News)
Norway바카라s team hotel was located within a short distance of the shooting, which occurred in the tourist area of the city near the harbor ferry terminal. Norway captain Maren Mjelde said teammates were awakened by a helicopter hovering outside the hotel.
바카라We felt safe the whole time,바카라 Mjelde said in a statement. 바카라FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad. Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight.바카라
Officials from Eden Park, where the game was scheduled to be played following an opening ceremony for the tournament, encouraged ticket holders to arrive to the stadium early. Most of the roads surrounding the stadium were closed to vehicles hours ahead of the start.
A minute of silence was observed before the start of the game in Auckland.
The shooting happened early Thursday morning at the start of rush hour in New Zealand바카라s largest city. The gunman was armed with a shotgun, said New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. He added police arrived within minutes of the first emergency call and ran straight into harm바카라s way to save the lives of others.
The gunman was found dead in an elevator, said Acting Police Superintendent Sunny Patel.
In addition to the three dead, at least four others were injured, including a police officer who was transported to the hospital in critical condition but is now listed in stable condition, the New Zealand police wrote on Twitter.
바카라New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland CBD this morning,바카라 the team said in a statement. 바카라We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe.바카라
Hipkins had initially said his attendance of the opening match was 바카라under review바카라 after the shooting, but he was in the stands and singing the New Zealand national anthem during the opening ceremony.
바카라Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,바카라 Hipkins said. 바카라The government has spoken to FIFA organizers this morning and the tournament will proceed as planned. I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat. This appears to be the action of one individual.바카라
FIFA issued a statement saying its president, Gianni Infantino, and Secretary-General Fatma Samoura, were in constant contact with local authorities and participating teams in the vicinity.
Soccer바카라s world governing body 바카라has been informed that this is an isolated incident that was not related to football operations and the opening match will proceed as planned,바카라 FIFA said in a statement.
Tourism New Zealand canceled a welcome party, which was scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon at a location within the cordoned off area that included many hotels in which participating teams are being housed.
The United States women바카라s team hotel is also located in the vicinity of the shooting and the team said in a statement it was 바카라saddened by the inexcusable loss of life to gun violence, and our thoughts are with the people of Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau and Aotearoa New Zealand.바카라
Jennifer Deering, a tourist from Orlando, Florida, was initially shocked to learn of the shooting after a tour guide had previously assured her that Auckland 바카라was very safe here, other than some petty thieves.바카라
Then she went about her day.
바카라It바카라s sad that it바카라s normal for us (Americans) to see something like this on the news,바카라 she added.
The month-long, 32-team tournament is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, where the final will be staged on Aug. 20. There are strict gun laws in both countries, and fatal shootings are rare.
바카라Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families in these difficult times. As a peace-loving nation, we stand with New Zealand in solidarity,바카라 Football Australia바카라s head of marketing and communications Peter Filopoulos said. 바카라The situation seems to be contained now, thanks to NZ authorities. This incident is unrelated to the Women바카라s World Cup. Stay safe everyone.바카라