Full inquest into 2019 mosque shootings confirmed

A full coronial inquest hearing into the March 15, 2019 mosque shootings will be held in Christchurch, a coroner has confirmed, and will include a focus for the first time on whether the Australian terrorist was radicalised online as far back as 2014 and whether he was acting as a lone wolf.

The scope of the Christchurch masjid attacks coronial inquiry has finally been revealed by Coroner Brigitte Windley in a 99-page decision released today.

It reveals the exact issues that the coroner will focus on and comes after a three-day hearing in February this year that heard from shooting survivors, grieving families, and other interested parties, who gave submissions on what issues were of most concern.

The inquest, which does not yet have a hearing date but will be held in Christchurch, will look at the causes of death for each of the 51 people killed during the shootings at the city’s Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre mosques.

It will also examine the events of what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”, from the start of the shooting, through to the “completion of the emergency response” and the terrorist’s formal interview by police.

“Issues for investigation within this timeframe will include whether [terrorist Brenton Tarrant] had any help from others on that day, the emergency response efforts, and whether that response may have affected the survivability of the deceased,” an information aid document to Coroner

Windley’s decision says.

A major concern for families has been how the terrorist was able to get a gun licence and while a Royal Commission of Inquiry delved deeply into it, the coroner will also take a look, and also see whether any “identified deficiencies in that process” have been addressed by legislative amendments or process changes.

Another major question for many families has been the gunman’s online and social media activity and to what extent it contributed to his extreme radicalisation.