Construction worker Tepapakahurangi Toatahi was at work on level 2 of the building on lower Queen Street when the shooting happened. Photo: RNZ / Lucy Xia
A scene examination has continued at the site at the bottom of Queen Street on Friday in an unusually quiet city, still in shock after Thursday's terrifying events.
Police say the two people killed in the Auckland CBD shootings were men in their 40s. Post-mortems are expected to be completed in the coming days, and the police say their priority is the men's formal identification.
In a statement this evening, Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said the victims' bodies had been removed from the scene, as well as the gunman.
"Poor weather conditions across the Auckland region impacted progress today, adding to the complexities of the scene being a large multi-storey building site," McKay said.
A cordon remains in place around the immediate vicinity of the site and a scene guard will be in place overnight.
Police have been in touch with the victims' familes and they were also being offered Victim Support services, he said.
Police were also appealing to the public to submit any relevant photos or CCTV footage which could be loaded here.
Anyone with any information was also being asked to contact police on 105 or via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
A few people wandering through downtown Auckland on Friday morning peered upwards, pointing at the construction site where the fatal shooting took place.
Angela Aitchison approached a police officer at the entrance to the site with a bunch of flowers in hand.
She is a freight worker for STL Line Haul.
Her company works closely with LT McGuinness, the construction firm whose teams were on site during the shooting.
"They are part of our STL Line Haul family. We deliver freight to them, not just to this site but to a lot of other sites around Auckland.
"We've got a lot of sympathy for them and want to give condolences to the families.
"So that's basically what those flowers are for, LT McGuinness, the workers and the families that lost those two lives yesterday unnecessarily."
Aitchson is glad she was not working in the city yesterday.
"It's unlucky for the people that actually were involved but I am lucky I wasn't here delivering freight at the time.
"I would have been exactly the same as everyone else here, scared and I would have probably run for my life."
Flowers laid outside the barriers of the construction site today. Photo: RNZ/ Charlotte Cook
Police have confirmed the two people killed by the shooter were men in their 40s who worked alongside the gunman at the construction site.
One injured police officer remains in hospital and another is recovering at home.
Three other people are still in hospital with injuries that are not life threatening, and two have been discharged.
Tepapakahurangi Toatahi had been working at the construction site when the shooting happened.
"I was just doing some construction work for the company I work for and all we heard was gunshots.
"It was pretty scary."
Toatahi has been given a few days off to recover but he is not sure if he wants to return to work and is considering moving home to Northland.
"I'm pretty scared to come back here because I'm worried it might happen again.
"Anything can happen in Auckland city, it's strange."
Shops in the area opened on Friday with workers and the few shoppers passing through exchanging reckons about the news from yesterday.
Carmen works in the Hollywood Bakery opposite Commercial Bay, which was in lockdown during the shooting.
"Suddenly, a lot of the police came here and they were armed with big guns.
"We were scared and the police asked us to stay inside, not go out and close our door."
She said the situation was frightening but she was pleased the bakery had reopened today.
Police in central Auckland on Friday morning. Photo: RNZ / Charlotte Cook
Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Bridges said disruption to downtown Auckland businesses had been minimal.
Businesses were happy with the response by police and emergency services and how quickly shops were able to reopen, he said.
"By the middle of the day shops were back running, our workers were back working and able to go about their business pretty freely.
"In transport terms, possibly there was a bit more congestion but fundamentally Auckland showed that it could stand up to this and get the wheels of commerce going effectively again."
Bridges said it was an awful day for Tāmaki Makaurau that many people never saw coming.
Local iwi Ngāti Whatua is planning to undertake a karakia process on the construction site before workers are able to re-enter the building.
