AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Players from the U.S. women’s national team expressed their condolences for the victims of a deadly shooting on Thursday near their team hotel, adding they remain focused on their Women’s World Cup campaign.
Three people were killed in the incident, including the gunman, according to New Zealand police.
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“There wasn’t really a conversation had. Unfortunately, I feel like in the U.S. we’ve dealt with this far too many times,” USWNT forward Lynn Williams told a news conference.
“But there was definitely a sense of, like, ‘let’s come together, we still have a job to do,’ but also recognizing that there were lives lost and that is very real and very devastating.”
The incident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. local time, and USWNT players at the time were in the hotel starting to assemble for breakfast, a U.S. Soccer spokesperson said.
U.S. Soccer’s security team was immediately in touch “with the local authorities and the department of state,” and quickly determined all players were safe and accounted for.
Police said the incident was contained to a construction site in one building, which was close to the USWNT’s hotel as well as the fan zone, which didn’t open as planned on Thursday as police secured the area.
Due to the players being unable to leave their hotel, their morning’s training was delayed, as was a planned news conference due to take place later on Thursday.
