Norway’s World Cup team staying in a hotel close to the Auckland shooting

Norway’s World Cup team was staying in a hotel near the site of a shooting in Auckland that won’t disrupt the tournament.

The captain of Norway’s World Cup team declared her players “felt safe the whole time” after being caught up in a shooting incident in Auckland hours before the opening match of the tournament.

The game will go ahead as planned with an increased police presence after three people were killed in a shooting in the city’s CBD on Thursday morning.

New Zealand is set to play Norway in the tournament’s opening match at Eden Park, 5km south of where the incident took place, with the gunman among the people killed.

Police and government officials were adamant it was an isolated incident and not a wider national threat or one aimed at the tournament, which is being staged across New Zealand and Australia.

Police officers cordon off the site of a shooting in central Auckland. Picture: Saeed Khan / AFP

Government officials spoke to World Cup organisers and confirmed the tournament would proceed as planned.

“Clearly with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland,” New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.

“Those watching around the world can be assured that the police have neutralised the threat.

“We have been in regular contact with FIFA. They are proceeding as planned. There will be an increased police presence, obviously, around Auckland to provide public reassurance, but the police have indicated they do not think there is an ongoing security or safety risk.”

The shooting occurred near a World Cup fan festival site and close to the hotel where Norway was staying.

Norway’s captain Maren Mjelde said the team was aware of the situation but “felt safe the whole time”.

“Everyone probably woke up quite quickly when the helicopter hovered outside the hotel window and a large number of emergency vehicles arrived,” Mjelde said in a statement.

New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland CBD this morning. 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. [1/2]

— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) July 19, 2023

“At first we didn‘t know what was going on, but eventually there were updates on TV and the local media. We felt safe the whole time.

“FIFA has a good security system at the hotel, and we have our own security officer in the squad.

“Everyone seems calm and we are preparing as normal for the game tonight. Then we may have to adapt if there are any instructions from the authorities.”

After neutralising the incident, police said there was no national security risk, nor a risk to the World Cup game.

“What has unfolded is understandably alarming, and we are reassuring the public that this incident has been contained and is an isolated incident,” a police statement said.