How it happened
1.40pm: A gunman opens fire in Al Noor Mosque in Deans Ave, near Hagley Park in Christchurch.
The gunman leaves the mosque and fires random shots as cars drive past. He returns to his Subaru station wagon parked in a nearby driveway to get more ammunition and then re-enters the mosque.
A shooter opens fire at Linwood Mosque in Linwood Ave.
2pm: The Bangladesh cricket team(below), in Christchurch for the third test against the Black Caps, rushes away from Hagley Park. Christchurch schools are put into lockdown with text messages and Facebook updates sent to parents. Police clear Cathedral Square, telling students who had gathered for climate change protests to go home immediately.
2.36pm: Police Commissioner Mike Bush urges everyone in the central city to stay off the streets.
2.45pm: University of Canterbury and council buildings including the Art Gallery and Central Library are in lockdown.
3pm: Christchurch Hospital announces the public should stay away unless for an emergency. No staff or patients are to enter or leave.
3.15pm: Two car bombs in a vehicle on Strickland St are deactivated by the Defence Force.
3.20pm: A man is pulled out of a car and arrested on nearby Brougham St.
4pm: Police announce one person is in custody. Bush says the situation is still evolving and asks all mosques around the country to shut their doors, advising people to stay away from Friday prayers. Westfield Riccarton and Northlands Malls are in lockdown.
4.10pm: In New Plymouth PM Jacinda Ardern describes this as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”.
4.25pm: A man is apprehended on Harrow St in Phillipstown.
5pm: Police search a home on Somerville St in Dunedin.
5.30pm: Bush says four people — three men and one woman — have been taken into custody.
5.47pm: Lockdown of schools in Christchurch is lifted.
7.25pm: Ardern announces at least 40 people have died in the mosque shootings.
7.40pm: David Meates, chief executive of Canterbury District Health Board, says 48 people, including children, are being treated for gunshot wounds at Christchurch Hospital and other health clinics.
9pm: Bush says 49 people are dead — 41 died at the Al Noor Mosque, seven at the Linwood Mosque and one in hospital. A 28-year-old man has been charged with murder and will appear in the Christchurch District Court today. Two others are in custody. The fourth person was not connected to the attack.
10.45pm: Police confirm the Somerville St property is being searched in relation to the Christchurch incident. Members of the public living on surrounding streets have been evacuated as a precaution.