![]() ![]() At this tragic time, my thoughts and prayers are with all New Zealanders. “I also pay tribute to the emergency services and volunteers who are providing support to those who have been injured. New Zealand has seen its darkest day with 51 killed in Christchurch mosque shootings. Prince Philip and I send our condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives,” she said in a statement. “I have been deeply saddened by the appalling events in Christchurch today. Nearly 50 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand were gunned down during Friday prayers in what the countrys prime minister called 'an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.' 'This. ![]() The country has not experienced a mass shooting event since 1990, when 13 people were killed in the seaside town of Aramoana.Ĭondolences and expression of solidarity have poured in from around the world, including a personal message from the Queen, New Zealand’s ceremonial head of state. Worshippers have been told to stay away from mosques until further notice and Christchurch residents have been encouraged to stay indoors.Īddressing a press conference, Prime Minister Ardern described the attack as “one of New Zealand's darkest days”. Two other suspects remain in custody, while the fourth person arrested has since been cleared of involvement.īush said that two improvised explosive devices attached to the shooter’s vehicle have been disabled, and warned that other attackers could still be at large. Police commissioner Mike Bush said that a 28-year-old man is due to appear in court tomorrow charged with murder. Minutes before the massacre, a Twitter user of the same name posted “an 87-page manifesto that was filled with anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim ideas and explanations for an attack”, CNN reports.Īlthough New Zealand is one of the world’s most peaceful countries, Christchurch “is known to have an active white-supremacist subculture”, says The Guardian. The shooter is said to have identified himself as Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national. “We have had 12 operating theatres that have been operating since this afternoon and will be continuing through until about midnight,” he said. In all, 41 people died at Al Noor, and another seven at Linwood, while one victim has since died in hospital.Ĭanterbury District Health Board chief executive David Meates told the New Zealand Herald that surgeons expected to work into the night treating 48 victims with gunshot wounds ranging from minor to critical. ![]() Police arrested the gunman inside a car that was later found to contain several weapons and two improvised explosive devices. Get the latest news from in your inbox.Farhaan Farheez, who survived the attack, told The Sydney Morning Herald: “The whole mosque was filled with blood and dead bodies. Sebastiano Venier was a Venetian general from the 16th Century who his army to victory over the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto. The names written on his weapons include Luca Traini, an Italian man who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the drive-by shooting of six African migrants in February last year.Īlexandre Bissonnette is serving a life sentence for killing six people and injuring five others in a shooting at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre in 2017. The man is understood to have posted a manifesto online and taken to Twitter with anti-Muslim rants about birthrates and white genocide. The scenes appear to have been filmed with a camera mounted on his chest. He flees the scene in his car in a relatively calm manner, laughing at times during the drive. He later shoots seemingly randomly on the street and returns to the car before heading back into the mosque again and repeating the process. The gunman begins the video by saying “let’s get this party started” and listens to American civil war music on his way to the shooting.Ĭarrying a number of automatic rifles, two jerry cans and a bag with a ‘PROUDLY KIWI AS’ logo, the gunman stops his car near the mosque, takes a gun out of the boot, then walks into the building and opens fire. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. ![]()
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