A friend of the man killed in a fatal dairy stabbing in Auckland says the victim was newly married and had planned to buy a house and have kids.
A manhunt is underway in Auckland after the dairy shop worker was stabbed and killed on Wednesday night.
Police said it seems a man acted alone when he robbed the Sandringham dairy and took the cash register before things turned violent.
An outpouring of love, grief and anger was seen and felt as the Sandringham community gathered outside the Rose Cottage Superette on Thursday morning to show their love for the young man killed on Wednesday night.
"For the young guy... it's just so unfair," one person said.
"I'm just so so angry. I think it's a really sad indictment on our society that we've reached this."
The man killed was from the Indian Gujurati community. Friends describe him as sweet and kind - and had not long been married.
"They were planning to buy a house and have kids. But now she's got no husband," said family friend Vithiya.
Friends said the 34-year-old had only been working at the dairy since last Thursday and had been in Aotearoa for less than a year.
He and his new wife had agreed to look after the shop temporarily while the owners were away in India for three months.
The newlyweds had been excited about seeing what it was like to own a business - something they wanted to do themselves one day.
A couple who formerly owned the dairy said it has a long history of violence and they sold up after they had a gun pointed at them.
"Tills were taken, broken windows obviously. Last one was a loaded shotgun. We got out."
Police said the man they're hunting this time was wearing dark clothes, a dark cap, and his pants had white wording on them. They're asking the public for CCTV vision from the area from around 8pm on Wednesday.
"It was possible that the man was walking around in the area, before and afterwards," said Detective Inspector Scott Beard.
But the Dairy and Business Association's Sunny Kaushal said it's the Government's fault.
"They have blood on their hands and they are responsible for it."
The association believes consequences for violent crime are too lenient, but also said the Government's not making sure promised safety equipment is actually being installed in shops.
Funding for fog cannons was announced back in 2017, including smoke bombs that mean criminals can't see where they're going.
The store has made three separate applications for a fog cannon but has been turned down three times after police came to assess the shop.
Stairs inside the shop seem to have disqualified it as a ram-raid risk.
Sandringham Neighbourhood Support's John McCaffery told Newshub the approach seems that if it can't be ram-raided, "it doesn't deserve a fog cannon".
"He's not in a shopping centre, and his entry isn't at ground level, so he's not considered to be at risk."
Whether a fog cannon would have saved this young life cannot be known, but it's a killing many now believe was preventable.
