As stated by Detective Inspector Haley Ryan, Wellington District Police:
Police are now in a position to release the name of the man who died after being shot, at a birthday party in Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt in the early hours of Saturday morning, 16 December.
He was 39-year-old Rawiri Zane Wharerau and he lived at the scene address in George Street.
When Police arrived at the scene, Rawiri was found lying at the front of his home surrounded by people trying to resuscitate him.
Despite the efforts to save him, he sadly passed away at the scene from gunshot wounds.
His brother was also located at the scene, and he too had sustained serious gunshot injuries. He was transported to hospital where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
Consequently, Police are investigating the homicide in Stokes Valley are now looking into establishing who was present at the address as part of our enquiries, including members and associates of the Mangu Kaha gang.
Police are wanting to speak to all those who attended the birthday celebration.
We have been working towards understanding what led to an altercation that left one man dead and another seriously hurt.
Rawiri's whānau will spend the coming Christmas grieving the loss of one son as they hope for the recovery of their other son.
Individuals at the address on Saturday night will know what happened and can help provide answers that would assist in the investigation.
We ask that those persons to do the right thing and think of both victims, their friends, whānau and loved ones and speak with Police sooner rather than later.
Our team remains committed to locating the person or persons responsible for this violent incident and holding them to account, and we continue to appeal to the community for their help to do so.
We continue to ask people within the community who have privately-owned CCTV or dashcam footage within Stokes Valley and the Eastern Hutt Road area between 1am and 3am that day to make contact with us.
We have already received information that has been of assistance and thank those that have provided that to us.
Anyone with any information that will help us progress this inquiry is asked to contact Police by phone on 105, or online at 105.police.govt.nz using Update Report, referencing file number 231216/6245.
