Solomona To’oto’o and Tupuga Sipiliano Wik – Biography
Solomona To’oto’o, 45, and Tupuga Sipiliano, 44, were killed when gunman Matu Tangi Matua Reid, 24, opened fire with a pump-action shotgun inside a high-rise building in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, at around 7:20 a.m. m. from Thursday. Ten people were injured during the 40-minute shooting spree, with three sustaining serious injuries. Reid was later found dead after barricading himself in an elevator shaft and engaging police in a shootout. Mr. To’oto’o and Mr. Sipiliano were formally identified as the two victims who died on Sunday. “Police express their sincerest condolences to the families, who are grieving the loss of their loved ones,” Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said after police completed formal identification processes. The two men were from Wattle Downs. Family and friends shared tributes to Mr. Sipiliano on social media. He left too soon. Rest in peace,’ wrote a loved one on Facebook.
Police confirmed that the two men were Reid’s co-workers, but it is not yet known what the gunman’s motivation for shooting was. New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told TVNZ’s Breakfast that the terror rampage may have been influenced by “workplace tension”. Of the 10 people who were injured, four remain in the hospital receiving treatmen.A police officer who was shot underwent surgery and is recovering in the hospital, while another officer is recovering at his home. Witnesses claimed that Reid had targeted his victims after going directly to the third floor of the construction site to the office of the construction company, LT McGuinness. A man told New Zealand media that Reid had been “pointing at people” during the riot. A worker at the site said he seemed ‘angry’ and that he was ‘yelling at people’ as if he was looking for someone. ‘I can remember him yelling ‘So what are you going to do to me now… what can you do?’ they told the NZ Herald.
“The two people he shot were like he wanted to kill those two people.”Reid had reportedly been fired from his job at the construction site the day before the shooting. It was also revealed that he was being monitored by correctional services via an ankle bracelet at the time he broke into the facility.Reid had been granted special permission to attend the workplace as part of a house arrest sentence imposed on him for committing a felony assault in 2021.He was ordered to serve a five-month prison sentence after slapping, kicking and strangling a woman with whom he was in an intimate relationship at the time.He was sentenced in March on charges of injuring with intent to injure, intentional damage, male assaults on women and difficulty breathing. The assault on September 16, 2021 left his partner with a fractured bone in their neck.
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Age
Solomona To’oto’o, 45, and Tupuga Sipiliano, 44, years old.
Two men killed identified after gunman opened fire at construction site in New Zealand
Judge Stephen Bonnar KC’s sentencing notes reveal that shortly before midnight, Reid became angry at something his partner said, leading to a verbal altercation.He then pushed the woman from a chair and threw an object at her head which struck and injured her right eye, before threatening to ‘eliminate’ her and her entire family.Reid then kicked the woman, causing her to fall backwards onto her bed, where he grabbed her by the throat and took her breath for up to 10 seconds.He continued to threaten her partner, saying, ‘You don’t know what I’m capable of’ as he grabbed a pair of scissors and pushed the handles to her side.The violent assault culminated in a terrifying last threat from Reid, who was staying with his partner and his family on Auckland’s north shore at the time.’I’ve had enough, it’s time, I’m going to take you all,’ he told the woman.
When the woman returned to her house with police later that night, she discovered that Reid had set fire to a small wicker basket inside her bedroom.Judge Bonnar notes that the woman had suffered a broken bone in her neck, a swollen and black eye, as well as bruises and scratches.Reid denied any wrongdoing when questioned by police, telling officers that the woman’s injuries had been sustained during “rough sex.” His criminal history shows a prior assault from 2020, for which he was serving a community sentence at the time of the incident.Reid had previously been ordered to attend anger management sessions.A cultural report submitted to the court revealed that Reid had witnessed domestic violence and physical abuse from a young age, which caused him to run away from home.Judge Bonnar noted that sending Reid to jail could ‘set you down the wrong path’.
Instead, the 24-year-old was sentenced to five months home sentence to be served at a Flat Bush property, in Auckland’s southeast. The conditions of the home detention sentence to attend a non-violence program, not use alcohol or drugs and not associate with the victim. A probation officer had recommended home detention as a satisfactory sentence after deciding Reid had a low risk of reoffending. Acting National Commissioner of Corrections Sean Mason said an internal review would be undertaken by the Chief Probation Officer. ‘While our full review is yet to be undertaken, initial information suggests that Community Corrections staff managed his compliance with these conditions closely,’ Commissioner Mason said. ‘He was in frequent contact with staff, and was required to report in to his Probation Officer twice every 10 days. He had last reported in yesterday.’
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