How the Christchurch terrorist planned his attack
FOR MONTHS, AN AUSTRALIAN WHITE SUPREMACIST METICULOUSLY PLANNED A TERROR ATTACK THAT CULMINATED IN THE DEATHS OF 51 PEOPLE. Stuff senior journalists Blair Ensor and Sam Sherwood investigate.
At 1.31pm on March 15 last year, an Australian white supremacist sent a text to his family, telling them how to deal with Police and the barrage of media coverage they would soon endure.
About 10 minutes later, that man – Brenton Harrison Tarrant – began an assault on Muslim targets in Christchurch, fatally shooting 51 people and injuring dozens of others.
The terror attack was precisely planned and months in the making. Using details from court documents supplied to the media at the beginning of the 29-year-old’s sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch on Monday, along with previously reported information, Stuff has mapped out what is known about the lead up to the atrocities at the Masjid An-Nur and Linwood Islamic Centre.
About the gunman
The gunman, the youngest of two siblings, arrived in New Zealand in August 2017 and rented a property in Andersons Bay, Dunedin.
Originally from Grafton in New South Wales, he did not seek out employment and kept to himself. He frequented a gym directly opposite a Muslim early childhood centre. Other gym-goers later said he worked out “obsessively”.
While Dunedin was his new home, the terrorist travelled overseas. In 2018, he visited Pakistan, North Korea and parts of Europe, including Austria, the home of far-right figure Martin Sellner to whose cause he reportedly donated $2500. Sellner told international media the pair never met, but exchanged emails.
In September 2017, the terrorist applied for an A-category firearms licence, the type commonly held by hunters. He initially listed an Australian family member as one of his referees, but because that person didn’t reside in New Zealand, as required, new referees were requested.
The gunman provided two further names who, Police said, met the requirements of the process and were interviewed face to face by a firearms vetting officer.
Stuff previously reported those referees were a Cambridge father and son who knew him through an internet chatroom. Police visited the gunman’s Somerville St home in October that year.
At that time, he was interviewed by the vetting officer and the property was inspected to ensure it was suitable. His licence was approved in November.
The following month, the terrorist began visiting retail outlets and online stores, assembling the equipment he would later use in the terror attack. From December 2017 to March 2019, he legally obtained an array of highpowered firearms, magazines and more than 7000 rounds of ammunition. He also acquired camouflage clothing, military-style ballistic armour and tactical vests.
The gunman modified the triggers of some of the guns so he could fire them more quickly.
He practised using them at several rifle clubs, including the Bruce Rifle Club where members thought he was
a “reasonably normal sort of dude”. All the while, the gunman was planning his attack. He began researching Muslim sites in New Zealand, predominantly within the South Island.
Using the internet, he obtained detailed plans of mosques, including interior images, and other information such as prayer times and important dates on the Islamic calendar to pinpoint when they would be at their busiest.
He also wrote about his extremist ideology, including a manifesto he called, “The Great Replacement”.
The mosque in Dunedin was the obvious target. However, a larger Muslim population frequented the Masjid An-Nur and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch. Attacking those sites allowed for an additional assault on the mosque in Ashburton.
In his manifesto he noted one of the Christchurch mosques, presumably the Masjid An-nur at 101 Deans Ave, was a more prominent and “optically foreign” building, with a “prior history of extremism”.
Stuff previously reported that Daryl Jones and Christopher Havard, two suspected al Qaeda terrorists killed in a United States drone strike in Yemen, had attended the mosque.
Jones converted to Islam in Australia where it’s believed he was radicalised. Havard’s parents previously said they believed their son developed his extremist views in Christchurch, claims vehemently denied by the city’s Muslim leaders.
On January 8 last year – a Tuesday – the terrorist drove to Christchurch to scope out the Masjid An-Nur. He flew a drone directly over the mosque, recording the grounds and buildings.
He paid particular attention to the entry and exit doors. He made detailed notes about relevant timings, including when to launch his attack for maximum impact, and how long it would take him to drive between mosques. Little is known about his movements over the following two months.
March 15, 2019
On March 15, the gunman left Dunedin
in his gold Subaru station wagon, which was loaded with six guns, including two AR-15 military-style semiautomatic rifles and two shotguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, seven fully loaded magazines, and four petrol bombs.
On many of the guns and magazines, the gunman had written names and dates referencing historical figures and events, such as battles in the Crusades, more recent terror attacks and symbols used by Latvian, Hungarian, Estonian and Norwegian Nazi groups. On his trip north up State Highway 1, he stopped for fuel at Z petrol station in Oamaru.
By 12.55pm, the terrorist was on the outskirts of Christchurch.
He made his way into the central city. He pulled into a car park close to the Masjid An-Nur and made the final preparations for his attack. He wrapped a bullet-proof vest around the back of the driver’s seat to provide ballistic protection while driving.
He arranged four of the guns so they were within reach from the driver’s seat.
The others were stashed in the boot, alongside the petrol bombs.
The gunman dressed in militarystyle camouflage clothing and a tactical vest, which carried the loaded magazines and a bayonet-style knife. He mounted a GoPro-camera, which could broadcast live to the internet, to the front of a military-style helmet. He also attached an audio speaker to the front of his vest through which he planned to play loud music.
At 1.28pm he sent his manifesto to an extremist website.
At 1.31pm he texted his family. At 1.32pm he activated the GoPro, which began recording and sending a live feed to Facebook.
He also sent emails containing threats to attack the Christchurch mosques and his manifesto to Parliamentary Services and numerous media outlets.
The gunman then drove to the Masjid AnNur, parking in a neighbouring driveway. The mosque was packed for Friday prayers. There were 190 worshippers, including women and children, inside. It was 1.40pm.
During the next six minutes, he fatally wounded 44 people.
He then got back in his car and sped to the Linwood Islamic Centre on Linwood Ave, where he killed another seven people.
The attack ended when two Police officers rammed their patrol car into his vehicle on Brougham St.
They dragged him through the passenger side and apprehended him. It was 1.59pm.
He offered no resistance, but falsely told them he was one of nine people involved in the attack, which meant police thought there was an ongoing risk and likely prolonged a citywide lockdown.
While the livestream to Facebook from the gunman’s GoPro ended on his way to the Linwood mosque, it continued recording until he was in custody in the Justice and Emergency Services Precinct.
When interviewed by police, he said he’d hoped to shoot more people than he did and was en route to the Ashburton mosque to carry out another attack.
He’d intended to burn the mosques to the ground with the petrol bombs and was disappointed that hadn’t happened.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Despite the new details that emerged on the first day of the gunman’s sentencing, there remain unanswered questions about how he was able to carry out the attack and whether warning signs were missed.
This is essentially the focus of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the shootings, along with whether enough was being done to investigate extreme far-right activities in the country prior to March 15.
The inquiry, which has been granted several extensions, has until November 26 to submit its final report.
One of the crucial questions is exactly how the gunman obtained a firearms licence and whether he provided appropriate referees.
Stuff has previously reported, based on information from police sources, that he was wrongly granted the licence due to a string of police failures.
According to the Firearms Licence application form, one of the references must be a “spouse, partner or next of kin” and the other must be a “person who is unrelated … and over 20 years of age and knows you well”.
Police have said that if an applicant doesn’t have a spouse, a partner or next of kin they will be “the person who … is likely to know them best in a personal sense”.
Sources previously said his application came at a time when the Dunedin arms office was overloaded with applications, and they were being shunted through at speed.
The licence would not have been granted if proper procedure was followed.
Police have said they’re unable to comment about the revelations until after the royal commission’s findings are made public.
The commission will no doubt look at the gunman’s involvement with the southern gun clubs he used as a training ground. At the Bruce Rifle Club there was no warning that he was preparing to commit such an atrocity, the club’s vice president, Scott Williams, told Stuff previously.
It also remains unknown if he received any donations from far-right groups.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald last year, it’s thought the terrorist received a share of a possible $500,000 payout his father received as compensation for an illness commonly caused by exposure to asbestos. He also claimed to have made money from cryptocurrency investments.
Whether that was enough to sustain his lifestyle in New Zealand will have been of keen interest to investigators. However, nothing has surfaced yet to suggest he had backing from overseas.