Gunman was charged over wrong person
The person recorded as being allegedly murdered by the Christchurch mosque shooter turns out to be alive and well.
When the shooter appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Saturday he faced one charge of murdering a woman whose name was then suppressed by Judge Paul Kellar.
The name has caused much confusion with media trying to compose a list of the fatalities. Because the woman’s name was included in the list, the number of fatalities came to 51. However police were adamant their number of 50 fatalities was correct.
Detective Superintendent Chris Page yesterday said police had made a mistake in charging the shooter with killing a person who was connected to the shootings but still alive.
‘‘We have been to see her today [on Thursday] and apologised. The name was supposed to represent many victims and someone was just trying to do the right thing. We made a mistake and we will own it,’’ he said.
He would not say how the woman was connected to the fatalities. Her name remains suppressed.
Page said the charge sheet would be amended on the shooter’s next appearance in court on April 5 when he would face ‘‘a bundle’’ of new charges.
The mistake did not affect the validity nor legality of the prosecution, he said.
Police yesterday confirmed they had identified all 50 people killed in the mosque shootings.
As funerals continued yesterday, the identity of the 50th victim was released by police.
‘‘We have been to see her today [on Thursday] and apologised. The name was supposed to represent many victims and someone was just trying to do the right thing.’’ Detective Superintendent Chris Page
He was Mohamad Moosid Mohamedhosen, 54, who was born in Mauritius and came from the town of Vacoas. Mauritius is an island near the larger island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, with a population of about 1.2 million. A minority of its population are Muslim. Mohamedhosen had lived in England, where he started a graphic design company, according to company records.
He lived in Linwood, and was killed at the Linwood Islamic Centre.
His family has flown to New Zealand, and has declined to comment. His funeral was held yesterday morning.
Police yesterday also confirmed Burnside High School student Muhammed Haziq Tarmizi, 17, was among the victims shot at Masjid Al Noor in Deans Ave.
Tarmizi was at the mosque with his parents and younger brother. His father, Mohammed Tarmizi Shuib, was shot twice and is in hospital in a stable condition.
The coroner’s office began releasing bodies on Tuesday after an extensive identification process. Mohammad Shamim Siddiqui is determined to attend Friday prayers at Masjid Al Noor even if he has to leave his hospital bed to do so.
Siddiqui, 59, is recovering in Christchurch Hospital after being shot in the arm during the terror attack at the mosque in Deans Ave last Friday. He has since undergone two surgeries after an artery was ruptured and is unlikely to be able to move his thumb and index finger due to nerve damage.
His daughter, Alisha Siddique, said she hoped her father would be discharged from hospital today before prayers at the mosque.
‘‘If he doesn’t get let out we are worried he will sneak out and go.’’
Several businesses have been working to clean and repair the mosque so the Muslim community can return to pray there this afternoon.
Siddiqui, a taxi driver who moved to Christchurch from India 20 years ago, was one of 48 people injured during the mosque massacres last Friday. Fifty people died, including 42 people at Masjid Al Noor.
The family live just 150 steps from the mosque and Siddiqui’s wife, Rehana Parween, said she would normally have been there too, but stayed home last Friday because she was feeling unwell.
Siddiqui punched a hole in a window and managed to escape to the car park at the back of the mosque, where he rang his wife to tell her to keep their son, Shayan, 16, at home.
Shayan was walking through the mosque gate when he realised someone was shooting and ran home.
Meanwhile, Siddiqui was still on the phone to his wife.
‘‘He was telling me he loved me and that he is safe and then he was shot. His phone went down. I am shouting, ‘Where are you?’ He was still on the phone. He was not speaking. He was moaning.’’
Parween stayed on the phone with Siddiqui until long after he was in hospital.
‘‘I can not express my feelings. I think I am lucky,’’ Parween said.
She lost a lot of good friends in the shooting.
‘‘I know them very well. It’s a very small community.’’
Alisha said because her mum was on the phone to her dad the whole time, they knew he was alive, even though they were not allowed to see him in hospital straight away.
She said her family did not blame anyone for the shooting. They were overwhelmed at the love and support they had received.