A 21-year-old man is dead after being stabbed in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill last night.

Photo: RNZ / Matthew Theunissen

Police were called to William Blofield Ave just after 11pm after reports of a brawl.

A Mt Roskill resident was watching television when she heard a commotion outside.

She saw people involved in a scuffle and several women trying to break it up.

When the fight got out of hand, she called police.

"As I was speaking to the police, I could hear the arguing getting real loud, so I walked outside and that's when I saw people fighting," she said.

"[They were] throwing punches, there was a weapon being used. That's all I saw - I think it was something metal that was being used to hit each other."

She said the group of half a dozen or so were still fighting when police arrived.

"I was speaking to the cop and... I looked over to where the fighting happened and that's when I saw a body lying in front of a police car," she said.

"I had a feeling that something real bad had happened."

Police said a second person found with stab wounds nearby was in a serious but stable condition.

Officers are speaking to several witnesses, including someone they described as a person of interest.

Armed police were this morning still guarding the cordon around the scene.