Darkest day
At least 40 dead, dozens wounded Three men, one woman in custody after two shootings at mosques An extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence – PM
A man reported to be 28, white and Australia-born has claimed responsibility for the mosque attacks in Christchurch.
At the time of going to press, nine people were confirmed dead, with 40 confirmed dead and dozens wounded yesterday.
Four people were taken into custody, three men and one woman, but police did not confirm their identities, or whether one was the man who emailed a lengthy manifesto outlining his reasons for the hate crime to politicians and media outlets.
Police believed other offenders were involved in the shootings at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave and the Linwood Masjid on Linwood Ave.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was one of New Zealand’s ‘‘darkest days’’.
‘‘This was an act of extraordinary and unprecedented violence. It has no place in New Zealand.
‘‘Many of the people affected by this act of extreme violence will be from our refugee and migrant communities. New Zealand is their home. They are us.
‘‘The person or people who carried out this act of unprecedented violence are not. There is no place in our home for them.’’
A crisis meeting of national security agencies was convened in Wellington.
The Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination, commonly referred to as ODESC, is a committee of chief executives that manages the response to national security in New Zealand.
Members include the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Security Intelligence Service, Government Communications Security Bureau, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others with national security responsibilities.
All Christchurch schools and tertiary institutes, and all civic buildings were placed in lockdown.
Mosques around the city, and in other centres in New Zealand, were put on high alert.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police were dealing with an unprecedented, grave situation. There were multiple fatalities but he could not confirm how many.
‘‘Two mosques were targeted, one at Deans Avenue, one at Linwood Avenue. Four people are in custody.
‘‘We are not aware of other people, but we cannot assume there are not others at large. We are pouring resources into that area ... saturating that area with visibility to ensure everyone who needs to get home can get home safely,’’ Bush said. Police are setting up a phone line for people to get more information about loved ones potentially affected.
‘‘This is requiring every police
resource we have available,’’ Bush said.
Defence force planes in Wellington were ready to send down more resources.
Bush said there were ‘‘a number of IEDs [improvised explosive device] attached to cars that police stopped.’’ The bombs were disarmed.
Officers were at several scenes around the city, including Christchurch Hospital and Papanui High School.
CHILDREN IN MOSQUE
A man, who would not give his name, said he was praying in the Deans Ave mosque at 1.40pm when he heard the shooting start.
He managed to escape, but saw his wife lying dead on the footpath outside.
‘‘My wife is dead,’’ he said, wailing. His head was supported by other Muslim men who prayed for him.
Another man said he saw children being shot.
Dozens of people were shot by a man wearing military uniform, who emptied at least two magazines. ‘‘There were bodies all over me.’’ Ranzan Ala said everyone started running to one of the doors when the shooting began. Once he got outside and ran away, he saw he had blood on him from other people.
‘‘Oh my God, I don’t want to see this kind of thing, it’s a nightmare. It’s going to be there for weeks and months.’’
His friend from Fiji was also in the mosque with him and was missing. About 20 to 30 children had been among the roughly 300-500 people inside, he said.
Argyle on the Park owner Lena Borodin said she saw a man in a silver car pulled up outside her motel and shoot an elderly Muslim man who was walking towards the mosque.
The shot shattered the driver’s side window of the gunman’s car, Borodin said.
The elderly man, aged in his 70s, was shot in his side. He lay on the ground outside a unit at the motel until police came and helped him.
The gunman, who she described as young and skinny, then drove away.
‘INDISCRIMINATE SHOOTING’ DURING PRAYERS
Muslim Association of Marlborough chairman Zayd Blissett said he found out about the shooting from a text sent by the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand at 2.04pm, saying ‘‘50 shot’’ during Friday prayers in Christchurch.
‘‘I’m just heartbroken. In fact I’m sitting here crying,’’ he said. ‘‘This is New Zealand. This can’t happen here.’’
Ahmad Al-Mahmoud, 37, described the shooter as whiteskinned, blond, quite short and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. He and others broke a window in a door to escape from the mosque.
Prayers started at 1.30pm and the gunman came in about 10 minutes later, when everyone was on their knees praying, he said.
SECOND SHOOTING AT LINWOOD MOSQUE
Sabir Hussain, who was inside the Linwood mosque, said he was ‘‘doing a prayer when our Imam said our brothers have been shot’’.
He went into the washroom and saw one man dead outside through the window.
He knew he ‘‘was not safe’’, so jumped out of the window and hid behind a fence until police arrived.
A reporter at the scene said people at the cordon were hugging as they passed through the tape. One man wearing a prayer robe was covered in blood but appeared to be uninjured, she said.
The Bangladesh cricket team were in the mosque where shots were fired.
A video showed the team rushing through Hagley Park away from the mosque.