Honouring the victims
Where and when you can pay your respects.
New Zealand woke yesterday to find the world’s gaze upon it.
Forty-nine people were dead, and last night 36 people were still being treated at Christchurch Hospital – 11 in intensive care described as critical. One child is in Starship hospital.
And while the world talked, Kiwis set to work. Many searched for their loved ones, others comforted the grieving. Fundraising efforts skyrocketed, and families came together. Flowers gathered at the scene of New Zealand’s darkest day.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made a public pledge: ‘‘I can tell you right now, our gun laws will change.’’
She and Police Commissioner Mike Bush both flew to Christchurch yesterday while investigators pieced together the trail of events that led to 49 dead, scores more injured, and one man in custody.
The Christchurch District Court was closed to the public in the morning as murder accused Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared for the first time before being remanded in custody.
More details of the attacks on the mosques emerged. Primarily, police believed only one shooter was responsible. Specifically, about 1.40pm on Friday, Tarrant entered the Al Noor Mosque in Deans Ave where prayers had just begun. He targeted men and women, the young and the old, documenting as he went.
Tarrant then travelled to the Linwood mosque, in Linwood Ave, once again opening fire.
Farhaan Farheez, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji in 2015, recalled: ‘‘I didn’t know what a gun sounded like. It is customary when we are praying not to pay attention to the outside world. Gunshots kept happening and people kept praying.’’
More than 100 worshippers were in attendance. People were shocked, not knowing how to act. Not long after, the suspected gunman was arrested by police.
A bystander filmed some of the arrest, during which police cars appeared to ram a gold Subaru before dragging the driver out at gunpoint.
Police found two explosives in that car, which were disabled by a bomb disposal unit.
Yesterday afternoon, police were yet to determine whether two others arrested had any connection to the gunman.
Google, the owner of YouTube, said it had removed thousands of videos related to the incident. Facebook said it was also working to remove offending videos.