New Zealand police gun down 'terrorist' as he stabs 6 people
PM Jacinda says this is a terror attack and the man was a Sri Lankan national
New Zealand authorities were so worried about an Islamic extremist they were following him around-theclock and were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds of him unleashing a frenzied knife attack that wounded six people Friday at an Auckland supermarket.
Three of the shoppers were taken to Auckland hospitals in critical condition, police said. Another was in serious condition, while two more were in moderate condition.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the incident was a terror attack. She said the man was a Sri Lankan national who was inspired by the Islamic State group and was well known to the nation's security agencies.
Ardern said she had been personally briefed on the man in the past but there had been no legal reason for him to be detained. "Had he done something that would have allowed us to put him into
prison, he would have been in prison," Ardern said.
The attack unfolded at about 2:40 p.m. at a Countdown supermarket in New Zealand's largest city.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said a police surveillance team and a specialist tactics group had followed the man from his home to the supermarket.
But while they had grave ongoing concerns about the man, they had no particular reason to think he was planning an attack on Friday, Coster said. The man appeared to be going into the store to do his grocery shopping as he had in the past.
"He entered the store, as he had done before. He obtained a knife from within the store," Coster said.