The acting Mayor of Manukau City is appealing for more police resources, as officers hunt for the killers of a South Auckland teenager.
A boy, aged 14, was attacked and killed at about 9pm on Tuesday outside his home in Justamere Place in the suburb of Weymouth.
A post-mortem shows he died from blunt-force trauma to the head.
Acting Mayor Arthur Anae says the police are doing a good job, but they would work more efficiently if they had more personnel. He describes the current levels as pathetic.
Meanwhile, the police have released descriptions of two men seen running from the scene of the attack. Both are Maori who were wearing black hoodies.
One is described as tall while the other, thought to be between 18 and 20 years of age, is of stocky build.
Police say the attack was not random. Detective Inspector John Tims also told Morning Report the two attackers were armed.
Recent killings
The incident in Weymouth was the latest in a series of killings in South Auckland:
Navtej Singh was fatally shot during a robbery at his liquor store in Manurewa on 7 June.
Yan Ping Yang, 80, was beaten unconscious in her Manurewa home on 11 June and died three days later.
Business owner Joanne Wang, 39, died of head injuries after being hit by a car at Westfield Shopping Centre in Manukau on 16 June as she tried to stop a man driving away with her stolen handbag.
