Mourning the mass shooting victims in Auckland

The Herald reports:

The gunman responsible for this morning’s deadly shootings in Auckland’s CBD was on home detention for domestic violence.

The Herald understands that Matu Tangi Matua Reid was serving a community-based sentence of home detention at the time of the shooting and was subject to electronic monitoring via an ankle bracelet tracker.

Three people are dead, including the gunman, after the incident at a construction site in Auckland’s CBD. Six others have been injured, including police officers.

Reid, 24, had appeared for sentencing in the Auckland District Court earlier this year after admitting charges of impeding breathing, injuring with intent to injure, wilful damage, and male assaults female.

When news broke this morning it seemed surreal. Having someone shoot eight people in public is something I am used to reading about in other countries, not Auckland. My thoughts have been with those affected in Auckland.

All credit to the brave Police officers who eventually stopped him. It is a reminder that their job requires them to out themselves into critical danger, to keep the rest of us safe.