A homicide investigation has been launched after two people were killed and a third critically injured in a stabbing in the Auckland suburb of Epsom.
Police rushed to the scene on The Drive just after 11:30am on Friday to find multiple people injured. Two people were given first aid, but have since died, while a third has been taken to hospital with critical injuries to undergo surgery. A fourth person has minor injuries and is also in hospital.
Newshub understands it was a mother and father who were stabbed. Their son, who is understood to be in his early 20s, is believed to have critical injuries.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard has confirmed the victims are a male and female. Until formal identification happens, Det Insp Beard wouldn't say if this is a family harm incident.
However, he said the individuals at the incident were known to each other and this was "not a random attack".
No one else is currently being sought by police and there is no risk to the community.
Det Insp Beard described the homicide as a "tragedy".
A scene examination is currently underway and post-mortems will take place on Saturday.
"Police are making a number of initial enquiries to establish what exactly has taken place," says Det Insp Beard said earlier. "A scene guard is in place, and there will be a Police presence at the address for the remainder of the day."
There is a very heavy police presence at the address, which has been cordoned off.
Local MP and ACT Party leader David Seymour has expressed shock and sadness.
"This is shocking and tragic for our community. It is important that the police are able to do their job and the privacy of people connected with the incident is respected," Seymour said.
"There will no doubt be a lot of questions, and our community will want and deserve to know how and why this happened. In the meantime we need to respect the appropriate processes. My thoughts are with those lost and those who have lost in this tragic incident."
Yahya Slaimankhel was out in the area for his morning walk when cops zoomed past him.
"[I] was just going for my morning stroll down the road and saw the cops and was like 'wow what the hell's going on," Slaimankhel said. "You definitely don't [see this often] aye, especially not around a neighbourhood like this."
Pankaj Maheshwali, who has lived in the area for 20 years, told Newshub the incident was shocking.
"I heard a lot of cop cars coming in and, yeah, it was pretty scary, almost eight, nine of them and I realised something must be going on, and then my wife called and said there was something on the news about some stabbing," Maheshwali said.
"It is [shocking], it is wow. It's just a stone's throw away from where I live and that's just unfortunate."
