Police say two occupants of the erratically-driven vehicle attacked Kyle Whorrall, 33, while he was sitting alone at a bus stop in Meadowbank on Saturday night.
Whorrall was struck with a “long” weapon at around 10pm, suffering multiple head injuries, and later died in hospital.
Herald graphic on US student Kyle Whorrall's death.
“He did nothing wrong,” said Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin yesterday. “He was sitting at a bus stop. And it’s a senseless attack. And we are determined to hold those people to account.”
Police said they had pieced together “snippets” of the incident from witness accounts and video footage from a passing bus and shopping centre.
Whorrall, who lived nearby, had bought groceries at a Woolworths supermarket on Gerard Way about 9.40pm, which was part of his usual routine.
Auckland University student Kyle Whorrall was attacked at a bus stop and died later in hospital.
He then walked about 400m up St Johns Rd to the bus stop, which took around five or six minutes.
About 9.50pm, a white Toyota ute was cut off by a black SUV which was doing a U-turn. Footage from a passing bus captured an image of Whorrall sitting at the bus stop and the two vehicles.
It was not his usual bus stop and it was not yet known why he was there - he did not flag any buses. Baldwin said he might have been sheltering from stormy weather.
Floral tributes have been left at the St Johns Rd bus-stop where Kyle Whorrall was murdered on Saturday night. Photo / Michael Craig
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin speaking to the media regarding the ongoing homicide investigation. Photo / Michael Craig.
Friends and former colleagues said Whorrall, who studied entomology, was known for scouring the streets at night for insects and may have been doing so on Saturday night.
About 10pm, the SUV parked at the bus stop, facing the wrong direction. Two occupants got out of the car and attacked Whorrall for about 30 seconds before speeding in their car in an easterly direction towards College Road.
“The victim was subjected to a senseless attack, leaving him with multiple head injuries,” Baldwin said. “No one should be subjected to the appalling level of violence that the victim suffered on Saturday night.”
Police launched a homicide investigation following the incident which happened about 10pm on St Johns Rd. Photo / Alex Burton.
The occupants of the white ute were “critical” witnesses and police were appealing for them to come forward, while emphasising they were not suspects in the investigation. They could be able to confirm how many people were in the black vehicle, or might have captured the car’s number plate.
While footage had been captured of the black SUV, it was not clear enough to identify a number plate. The weapon used by the attackers had not been found.
The hunt for the attackers is now a major police exercise, with detectives called back from holiday to assist.
“In shock”
Whorrall moved to New Zealand from the United States about four years ago to study for his PhD in entomology at the University of Auckland.
He was based at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, which has an office in St Johns about 3km from where he was attacked.
Kyle Whorrall, 33, died after being attacked at a bus stop on St Johns Rd in Meadowbank.
Whorrall was studying a highly specialised area of entomology and was invited to New Zealand to research his doctorate. Colleagues said he had nearly completed his thesis and was working overtime to finish it. His supervisor told the Herald it was too soon for him to comment.
Those who knew Whorrall said he was kind, thoughtful and deeply interested in his science.
Whorrall’s former teacher, Douglas Yanega of the University of California, told the Herald he taught Whorral as an undergraduate.
“He was soft-spoken, polite, and enthusiastic, which is fairly typical for an entomology student,” he said.
“It was clear, however, that he was keen to take his interests to the next level, as he had approached me looking to do genuine taxonomic research as an undergrad - with firefly beetles, at that time. Most entomology students don’t get into research until they begin their graduate studies, so Kyle had clearly made up his mind that he wanted to turn his interest into a career.”
He said he was happy to hear Whorrall had moved to New Zealand to work with a friend Yanega had gone to graduate school with at the University of Kansas.
“While it is certainly not the same as being family, the relationship between a student and their thesis advisor can be very close... The entomological community is very close-knit and supportive, and even as briefly as Kyle had been involved in entomology, there were many people who knew and respected him.
“I would not be surprised at all to see, over the next few years, at least a few new species described and named in Kyle’s honour, as that’s very much the kind of thing entomologists do to pay tribute to lost colleagues - a small but meaningful form of immortality, as it were.”
Whorrall was a member of the New Zealand Entomological Society of New Zealand, which described him as an expert on Coleoptera, or beetles.
The University of Auckland has said it would not release details while an investigation is underway, at the police’s request. Landcare also declined to comment.
The US Embassy has confirmed it is aware of the death and was providing support to the family.
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