The opening game of the FIFA Women's World Cup between New Zealand and Norway will go ahead as planned, after a fatal shooting in central Auckland this morning heightened security fears.
Three people are dead, including the gunman, and 10 others injured, following the shooting at a construction site on Lower Queen St in Auckland's CBD.
The shocking occurred less than 12 hours before the kickoff of the World Cup at Eden Park this evening.
In a statement, FIFA extended its "deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims" and said its thoughts were with the injured.
FIFA said it had been reassured by police that it was an isolated incident and the opening match tonight would proceed as planned. The opening of the FIFA fan zone at The Cloud, located near where the shooting occurred, was postponed with new times to be confirmed.
Speaking to media this afternoon, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said there was no elevated concern in relation to the World Cup's security.
Police and officials are reassuring the public there is no ongoing risk and games are safe to attend. (Source: 1News)
"We’re satisfied there’s no ongoing risk to the public and no reason why the tournament should not proceed. The matches are safe to attend," Coster said.
"This is a tragic situation. As I say this is apparently connected to this workplace. I have no elevated concern about FIFA, this is a generally safe country and we’re very proud of the work we’ve done in preparation for this event."
Officials from Eden Park, where the game is scheduled to be played following an opening ceremony for the tournament, encouraged ticket holders to arrive to the stadium early.
“There will be an increased security presence within the precinct and across the venue. Additional traffic management measures are in place,” Eden Park said.
Some of the biggest names in world football are in Auckland ahead of tonight's game, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Fatma Samoura.
FIFA said the pair were in immediate contact with authorities following the shooting and were safe.
Norway, who are currently gearing up to play New Zealand, are staying at M Social, just 400 metres down the road from the shooting at 1 Queen St.
“Everyone probably woke up quite quickly when the helicopter hovered outside the hotel window, and a large number of emergency vehicles arrived,” Norwegian captain Maren Mjelde said in a statement.
“At first, we didn't know what was going on, but eventually, there were updates on TV and the local media.”
The team “felt safe the whole time”, and said everyone “seems calm” as they prepared for tonight's match.
It was similar for the US team who are based in Brown's Bay for the tournament.
"Our security was very swift to say, 'look, we can't go anywhere right now, we need to make sure you guys are safe first'," forward Lynn Williams said.
"I think there’s just a sense around the team that we recognise this is devastating and then once we were able to go to training we were like, we have to focus on the job at hand."
Williams conceded there wasn't much discussion of this morning's events in the team.
"Unfortunately I feel like in the US we’ve dealt with this far too many times. But there was definitely a sense of like, 'lets come together, we still have a job to do', but also recognising there was lives lost and that is very real and very devastating.
"So we were just thankful we were safe, that the first responders came and everything was very quick."
New Zealand Football said it was shocked by the incident.
"We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe but we will not be able to comment further while details are still emerging."
The Football Ferns kick off their World Cup campaign against Norway at 7pm.
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