A local Auckland councillor is urging the Manukau community to "stay strong" and "come together" after a senior member of the Tribesmen gang was shot and critically wounded.
The shooting occurred during Rugby League World Cup celebrations in Ōtara on Monday night after Samoa beat arch-rivals Tonga 20-18 in the quarter-finals.
The day started on a high, with league fans celebrating Samoa's win, but chaos soon ensued when a senior Tribesmen member was shot.
It's reignited fears of gang tensions in Auckland, which earlier this year led to several drive-by shootings with near-fatal consequences.
Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina told Newshub Late on Tuesday he is "very concerned".
"I and the community don't want to see any retaliation, so look, we're very concerned," Filipaina told Newshub Late host Ingrid Hipkiss.
"I again want to acknowledge our community leaders plus also the two gangs that ended up discussing things."
Police have yet to make an arrest following the shooting and Filipaina has urged the community to come together to help find the shooter.
"They [police] need the community to help to locate the person who did the shooting," he said.
"[Our] thoughts are with the family of the person who has been shot, but for me, it's just no retaliation, no escalation, that is what our community wish."
On Saturday, two days before the shooting, police had to disperse a large crowd in south Auckland after rugby league fans started letting off fireworks and were standing on roofs and bonnets of moving vehicles.
A Newshub camera operator said around 1000 people were present at the gathering in the Māngere town centre.
A day later, fans again descended on the town centres in Māngere and Ōtara where footy fans lit fireworks and tooted their horns before the shooting took place on Monday evening.
Filipaina isn't worried the shooting will drag the south Auckland communities apart.
"I'm not worried because the community will come together and that's why it's all about helping the police and just staying solid together," he said.
"That's why I'm not really worried about that. The celebrations, I have no doubt at all, will continue and hopefully, we don't see anything like this happen when Samoa plays the semi-final."
Filipaina urged the community to "stay solid" and work together to get guns off their streets.
"Let's stay together, let's stay united and ensure that these firearms that are out there, please, if you know [someone with a firearm], contact somebody, contact the police and just get them off our streets."
Samoa plays England in the Rugby League World Cup semi-final on Sunday morning (NZ time).
Watch the full interview with Alf Filipaina above.
