It's understood that a police officer
has died in the line of duty.
The officer is believed to be one of two police officers
who was shot today after performing a routine traffic stop
in West Auckland.
For more,
we cross live to Massey where Irena Smith
is standing by at the scene.
Irena, can you tell us what happened?
As you can see behind me,
roads near where the shooting took place, killing one officer,
remain closed.
Both victims were taken to hospital where one of the pair
would later go on to die.
The survivor remains in a serious condition in hospital.
A resident was struck by the offenders
who had shot at the police.
It appears there has been
an outpouring of support and grief for the family
of the deceased
and for the police themselves for one of their fallen officers
who died following routine and doing their job.
Here's what NZ Police had to say earlier today.
Irena, how is the community of Massey coping?
Let's just say,
there is a sense of shock and that there is no situation
more frightening than having what has just happened in your community
while you're at home.
The shooting took place at 10:30 am this morning.
The main focus for NZ Police is to find the offenders.
They are not looking for just one person, they're looking for two.
You can probably hear the helicopter overhead
searching for the offenders.
Here's what NZ Police had to say regarding the search.
The sad thing is, as NZ Police say,
is that their daily job is to protect the community
which is exactly
what the officers were doing this morning when they were shot.
They were unarmed.
This was a shocking situation for them,
and also a shocking situation
for the community here in Massey, West Auckland.
The main message from police to the community is to not panic
and that the community are safe.
Police are advising,
as residents of this street are waiting to return home,
that for now if you are able to go somewhere else safely to stay,
that would be the best thing to do in this situation
as they are still on the hunt to catch the offenders
who have committed this heinous crime, Scotty.
Thank you for the update,
Irena Smith,
and for collating
all the latest up-to-date information regarding this situation
out in West Auckland.