Police have revealed the Mt Roskill homicide that left a man dead and two others in hospital was "not a random attack".
Police were notified of the incident at an address on Glass Rd, Mt Roskill, at about 9:30pm on Thursday.
Det Insp Scott Beard revealed at a press-conference on Friday that one of the attackers wielded a machete during the home invasion.
"Two male offenders, one with a machete, one with a firearm came to the address," he said.
"It's not a random attack as they seemed to have known the people inside because they went inside and a short time later a 23-year-old male was shot and killed in an altercation."
Police said that four occupants were inside the address at the time of the incident.
Two other men at the address, one in his 30s and the other in his 50s, received significant injuries to their arms believed to have been caused by the machete.
Both males remain in hospital in a stable condition, while a fourth person at the address has been uninjured and is assisting police with enquiries.
The offenders fled the scene on foot and police say they aren't sure if they had a car nearby.
They are now working to identify them as quickly as possible.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard said police are not treating this as a random incident.
"We want to reassure the community that this appears to be an isolated incident and a targeted attack by these offenders," he said.
"The investigation is still in its very early stages and we are still working to establish the full circumstances surrounding this attack and our priority is to identify these offenders as soon as we can."
Det Insp Beard said police do not believe the incident is gang-related but reiterated their investigation was at an early stage.
A scene examination is being carried out on Christmas Eve and officers will remain present at the address this evening.
A post-mortem is expected to take place on Christmas Day.
Neighbours have been spoken to by police and the investigation team has been carrying out area enquiries to determine if any local residents saw or heard anything that may assist the investigation.
A visible police presence will remain in the Mt Roskill area over the coming days as police continue enquiries.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Police on 105, quoting file number 211224/4140, or ring Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
