Police at the scene on Darlington Road, Miramar. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
A resident of the Wellington suburb where a man was critically injured earlier this week says people have been on edge all week, but he is hopeful a community meeting on Tuesday will give them some reassurance that they're safe.
In the early hours of Monday morning, 63-year-old Afghanistan man Abdul Nabizadah was found unconscious in Miramar. He [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/545206/man-found-unconscious-on-road-in-wellington-dies-in-hospital died[ in Wellington Hospital on Tuesday morning.
On Friday, police revealed his death was caused by blunt-force head trauma.
The attack on Nabizadah followed a break-in at a Darlington Road house just 20 minutes earlier, down the road from where Nabizadah was found, when two adults discovered an intruder in their home.
Ryan Street, who runs an online forum for Miramar residents, said a community meeting would take place at 6.30pm on Tuesday at the Seatoun Bowling Club. He hoped a community meeting would reassure people that things were being done and they are safe.
Street said it was good to have an extra police presence in the neighbourhood over the past week, particularly as tension increased among residents when street lights failed on Tuesday, the night after the attacks.
"People have been fairly on edge...we had no street lights for a couple of nights. People were worried and were taking precautions of their own, just to keep safe."
Those precautions included locking windows and keeping gates shut, he added.
Street said Sergeant Michael Byrne from Kilbirnie Community Policing would speak about community crime, and give an update on the police's investigation into last week's incidents.
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