A brawl erupted at Wellington High Court on Thursday morning, drawing a heavy police response.
Today was the first High Court appearance for three people charged in relation to the murder of Stokes Valley man Rawiri Wharerau.
Two of the defendants are accused of his murder while the other is accused of being an accessory after the fact by harbouring them and helping them avoid arrest.
They were all granted continued name suppression which drew groans from Wharerau's family.
The brawl broke out at the end of the hearing when one of them was taken away, according to the NZ Herald.
People in the public gallery began yelling at the man which led to the incident.
Once the brawl broke out, a judge was forced to leave the courtroom and a defence lawyer told court security "f**cking arrest them all".
The incident only lasted around 30 seconds but in that time a member of the murder victim's family tried to get past a two-metre high see-through screen separating the courtroom from the public gallery.
Some of those involved in the incident are believed to have gang links, a police spokesperson told Newshub.
Ten police cars, a paddy wagon, and two ambulances responded to the incident, directly across the road from parliament, and closed one lane of Molesworth Street.
"Police were armed as a precaution," the spokesperson said.
Two people were injured in the event and required medical attention, but the brawlers dispersed once police arrived.
The cordons are now being lifted.
Wharerau was shot dead at a birthday party in Lower Hutt in December 2023.
His brother, who was also attending the party, was critically injured in the shooting but has since recovered.
The party was attended by members of the Mangu Kaha gang, a splinter group of Black Power.
Wharerau, who was a patched member of the gang, was shot after an altercation at the party spilled into the street.
A 33-year-old East Coast man and a 22-year-old Stokes Valley woman are jointly accused of murdering Wharerau.
They are also jointly accused of attempting to murder Wharerau's brother and the unlawful possession of a firearm.
