LONG DARK CLOUD
NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed her nation will respond to yesterday’s terror attack by “rejecting and condemning” hate.
Ms Ardern said yesterday would be remembered as the darkest day in her nation’s history — with 49 people shot dead and at least 50 injured at two mosques in Christchurch by a white extremist Australian man. But Ms Ardern said her proudly multicultural nation would remain united behind shared values that were the antithesis of the hate that sparked the attack.
AN Australian white supremacist has claimed responsibility for New Zealand’s worst act of terrorism — a massacre of 49 people which the gunman grotesquely filmed and streamed live on social media.
The targets were members of Christchurch’s Muslim community, gunned down in cold blood while they were at Friday prayers at the city’s two main mosques.
The gunman, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant from Grafton, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, used a camera mounted on his helmet to broadcast the carnage on Facebook Live to the world before it was pulled down.
Tarrant also posted a 73page manifesto ahead of the attack, admitting he was a racist who hated Muslim immigrants.
Tarrant’s killing spree only ended when New Zealand police bravely rammed his car and dragged him out at gunpoint.
Police said they also found improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in a vehicle, which were later dismantled by an army bomb squad.
Three men and a woman were also arrested.
One man, dressed in army fatigues, was carrying a firearm when seized outside a high school. Police were last night investigating whether they had any involvement in the terror atrocity which targeted the Al Noor mosque and a mosque in Linwood.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as one of her country’s “darkest days”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed an Australian-born citizen was the main suspect.
“We stand here and condemn absolutely the attack that occurred today by an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist (who) has taken the lives, stolen lives, in a vicious, murderous attack,” Mr Morrison said.
The disturbing 17-minute livestream of Tarrant’s rampage shows terrified worshippers cowering in the corners of the mosque as he sprays them with automatic weapon fire and then stalks around, through rooms of the mosque, seeking more victims.
Witnesses say he fired repeatedly into bodies lying on the floor, never saying a word.
He begins the Facebook livestream of himself driving to the mosque, with 18th-century marching song British
Grenadiers playing in the background, getting out of the car, taking a weapon covered in white writing before walking calmly down the road and into the mosque.
He is seen just as calmly returning to his car and driv- ing away, explaining his rampage.
Witnesses described desperately breaking a window and door to escape as the shooting started inside the Masjid Al Noor mosque and of bodies lying everywhere inside the mosque.
One eyewitness said about 300 people were in the mosque at the time. He said people tried to find places to hide and about 30 to 50 people were lying on the ground.
“Bullets were all around the shooter as he shot,” the witness said.
“All of them were shot down — all of them. I’ve seen five people dead.”
There are witness reports that Tarrant also pursued a
This is New Zealand’s darkest day … I would describe it as an unprecedented act of violence, an act that has absolutely no place in New Zealand.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister
I still have friends inside. I have been calling my friends but there are many I haven’t heard from. I am scared for my friends’ lives.
Survivor Mohan Ibrahim
I was thinking that he must run out bullets you know, so what I did was basically waiting and praying to God, oh God please let this guy run out of bullets.
Unnamed survivor
The blood is spitting on me, I mean, splashing on me … but fortunately, I am alive.
Unnamed survivor
We condemn the attack that occurred today by an extremist right-wing violent terrorist.
Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister
five-year-old child down the street, gunning the child down.
A small child is known to be among the dead.
The Bangladeshi cricket team, which was at the mosque for Friday prayers, escaped unhurt but team members were shaken and the planned Test match against New Zealand has now been cancelled.
Tarrant, who used his own name on his social media accounts, tweeted a picture three days ago of magazine cartridges, appearing to dedicate them to other right-wing extremists whose names were printed on them in white pen.
But authorities say he was not believed to have been on any watchlist. One cartridge was for Alexandre Bissonnette, a Canadian man sentenced to life in jail for the 2017 shooting at a Quebec City mosque which killed six and injured five.
The same cartridge also mentions Luca Traini, an Italian man sentenced to 12 years for shooting and wounding six African migrants in Macerata in early 2018.
Mr Morrison confirmed Australian authorities were involved in the investigation.
He extended his sympathies to New Zealand and “particularly those of Islamic faith”.
Tasmania Police Deputy Commissioner Scott Tilyard said there was no indication of any threats in the state.
“Our thoughts are with the victims in New Zealand and their families, and also with our police counterparts and other emergency workers,’’ he said.
“Tasmanians can be reassured that Tasmania Police is well prepared to respond to any terrorism incident, including planning and preparedness for response to and recovery from terrorist incidents.”