Hitesh Navin Lal was shot dead by police on Central Ave in Papatoetoe.

Local residents have described terrifying scenes after a man wielding a machete smashed windows and attacked houses before he was shot dead.

Hitesh Lal died on Monday morning in Papatoetoe, south Auckland, when police shot him after he went on a rampage about 1am.

"It was crazy," said Mahenaz Begum on Central Avenue, where some windows on neighbouring houses were boarded up on Wednesday.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Police let a resident into Central Ave, Papatoetoe following the shooting.

She said when one local resident yelled out "what the hell are you doing?", Lal demanded to enter that property and told people: "I will decide. I will kill you or I will [let you] live."

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"He was trying to enter ... He cut the door, he broke the window. He wanted to enter the house to kill those people," Begum said.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Mahenaz Begum is still on edge after the machete-wielding man smashed up windows and tried entering nearby houses before police shot him dead.

"I just heard the gunshot. They tried to control him," she said of the police who arrived after multiple residents called 111.

"He was just out of control. They didn't have a second choice."

Begum and a relative said police appealed to Lal to put the machete down and talk or negotiate, but he instead advanced, first at a police dog and then at an officer.

Begum said she was still scared after witnessing the incident in what she said was usually a quiet street.

"It was a very big knife. The knife was so shiny. I just can't forget it," she added. "I can't sleep at night."

DAVID WHITE/STUFF A man was sleeping in this house when Hitesh Lal, unknown to him, broke the window with a machete.

Across the road, a man said Lal smashed his bedroom window with the machete.

"He smashed the windows on this one, four on that one," the neighbour said, pointing to another house.

The neighbour said Lal seemed to be yelling in Māori and English.

"He smashed these windows here and he slashed the door there," a woman also living on Central Ave said.

Broken glass lay on the floor of her unit beneath a boarded-up window.

Auckland Peace Action and some commentators on social media have condemned the police shooting.

"They weren't there when it happened," the neighbour said. "It was a very frightening thing. To hell with that. He could've killed somebody...He actually tried to get into the house."

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Central Ave in Papatoetoe was cordoned off after the shooting on Monday.

Lal lived about one block down the road from where he died. The residents at his house were visibly upset and said they did not want to comment.

On Monday, Lal's cousin Rajiv Prasad told Stuff arguments over land and money in Fiji had troubled Lal, but there were no indications his cousin would engage in violence or have a breakdown.

"He just completely lost it ... It's very sad what happened."

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Multiple investigations were underway after police shot Hitesh Lal, 43, in Papatoetoe.

Prasad said relatives were in shock and he doubted Lal's father in Fiji would be able to travel to Auckland for Lal's funeral or memorial service.

Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Jill Rogers said police and Victim Support were providing support to Lal's family.

"The officer is being well-supported by welfare services and their colleagues," Rogers added.

She said police launched investigations into the shooting, had notified the Independent Police Conduct Authority, and Lal's death was also referred to the Coroner.