Assistant Commissioner of Police David Mirfield - Firstly, I would like to give you an update on the condition of yesterday’s victim. The 29 year old man remains in intensive care following surgery but is described as ‘stable’.

You will be aware that this shooting was the third firearms related incident that day, shots were fired near to the First Church of God on North Shore at 11:40am and shortly after that police responded to an anonymous call of an attempted shooting in Court Street; that event cannot be confirmed, and no witnesses have come forward. We do not believe that the shooting outside the First Church of God was targeting any members of the church or the attendees at the wedding; the car that received a bullet impact was parked totally innocently and caught by a stray bullet. This was clearly a terrifying ordeal for the occupants who are receiving police support.

This once again demonstrates the random nature and total disregard for life that these individuals have. This will be treated as an attempted murder investigation and those responsible when caught will face a substantial prison sentence.

These latest shootings including the three during the Hurricane weekend have no obvious pattern, they are random, they are all committed by men on bikes, and the victims may or may not belong to rival gangs. What is absolutely clear is that these incidents are so brazen that the offenders have a total disdain for anyone other than themselves, and are prepared to destabilise not only their own community but the whole of this country. It is the role of the police to not only prevent the crime but to catch and convict those responsible. We have already had support from witnesses who are once again prepared to come forward and provide information. We are studying CCTV; forensic and ballistic material has been recovered and will be analysed. We are arresting, charging and convicting people for these offences; however we cannot do that alone.

Our Gang and Violence Reduction Strategy relies on a multi-faceted approach to target the gangs; this is both a complex social and law enforcement issue, that has to have all the elements of this approach to work as one. We together with the support of our partners in law enforcement, other agencies and most importantly the engagement of the community, can tackle this violence.

There has been progress, but I absolutely understand that some of our community are living in fear; we owe it to those people to protect them, and that is what we are striving to do. We have for example restructured the Service so that 85% of our staff is now dedicated to operational policing. The Service’s ability to effectively deal with these issues is bolstered by 24/7 firearms response patrols and a dedicated Gang Targeting Unit.

In addition in times of heightened tension we supplement our officers on the street to provide further reassurance. Finally, I would once again appeal for anyone to come forward who may have information to help in connection with any firearms related incident, not just these current events, to come forward; that can be in confidence by whatever means.