The violent death of a woman on Monday morning has shocked a quiet West Auckland neighbourhood.
Emergency services were called to the scene on Westgate Drive at 8:35am after a serious assault was reported. A woman died at the scene and police apprehended a man nearby who is now in custody.
A local woman says she heard a "commotion" on the street outside her house this morning, before a "thud" that she believes was the victim falling to the ground.
"There was a woman who screamed, then there was a man who started shouting 'What the hell did you do?'" she told Newshub. "When I opened the curtains I saw another man run up Westgate Drive."
She then saw another woman walking back from the scene who gestured that someone had been hurt.
"I realised something serious had happened."
She called an ambulance and walked to where the victim was lying, surrounded by three other people trying to help.
"I couldn't see her breathing," she says. "There was far too much blood for me to concentrate on what she looked like."
The woman says another witness told her they saw a man attacking a girl at a bus stop.
"You don't expect that to happen, this person was probably just on their way to university or work. I'm a bit shocked. "
Construction worker Henry Alvin says he witnessed the incident from up high on site scaffolding.
"I got to work this morning and there was a whole lot of commotion. Tyres screeching, cops coming from every angle."
He says he heard "a lot of screaming".
"It's not a nice thing to hear, the piercing sound of someone dying."
Alvin says the violence is particularly shocking in such a peaceful neighbourhood.
"It's really quiet, this area's quite dead, figuratively speaking," he says.
"I just hope they get the person responsible. You do the crime, you do the time. It could have been my sister or my mum or my wife."
Newshub.
