Auckland shooting: Gunman Matu Reid had earlier threatened to ‘take out’ entire family, documents reveal

The man who opened fire at a downtown Auckland construction site, killing two people and injuring a police officer, was on home detention for kicking and strangling a woman.

Court documents obtained by the Herald after the shooting on Thursday also show the violent 2021 offending for which Matu Reid was serving a sentence of home detention took place when he was subject to an earlier community-based sentence for an assault in 2020.

Reid, 24, died after exchanging gunfire with police at the construction site where he had approval to work as part of his sentence.

He had earlier killed two people after walking on to the site shortly after 7am with a pump-action shotgun, and injured a police officer and several more civilians.

At the time, he was serving a sentence of five months’ home detention delivered in the Auckland District Court on March 28 after he admitted charges of impeding breathing, injuring with intent to injure, wilful damage and male assaults female. Strangulation carries a maximum term of imprisonment of seven years.

The sentencing notes of Judge Stephen Bonnar KC show a probation officer assessed Reid as being at a low risk of reoffending. The probation officer recommended home detention as a suitable sentence.

Judge Bonnar’s sentencing notes chart the details of the violent attack on September 16, 2021 for which Reid was charged.

He was boarding at a property in Glenfield, along with the parents of his victim, who also stayed there three nights a week. Reid and his victim were in an intimate relationship at the time.

Shortly before midnight, something said by the woman, whose name is suppressed, triggered anger in Reid, Judge Bonnar said.

They argued and he pushed the woman off the chair.

When she tried to speak to him, Reid verbally abused her and then threw an object at her head, hitting her in the right eye. He threatened to “take out” his partner and the rest of the family.

He then kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying backwards onto the bed, at which point Reid stood over her and seized her throat for about ten seconds. She was unable to breathe.

Reid relinquished his grip but continued to verbally abuse her before slapping and punching her.

He then said to her words to the effect of ‘you don’t know what I’m capable of’.”

More to come.