‘Biggest’ response mistake not part of police debrief

Severely injured worshippers left unattended in the Al Noor mosque for 10 minutes wasn’t discussed by police during debriefs, despite it being labelled the “biggest mistake” in the response to the Christchurch terror attacks.

The first armed officers to enter the mosque on March 15, 2019, had begun first aid on victims before they quickly redeployed to the Linwood Islamic Centre, where they discovered they were surplus to requirements.

They were not replaced, and only three armed staff remained outside, leaving severely injured and dying people alone inside the Deans Ave mosque for more than 10 minutes, the coronial inquest into the attacks has heard.

Yeslterday, one of New Zealand’s most senior tactical commanders, who took charge of a police debrief a month after the attacks, said he was never made aware of this, and that it was not discussed. He only discovered victims were left alone in preparation for the inquest earlier this year, and described being “upset” when he found out.

Senior police tactical commanders will continue giving evidence today.

“This was probably the biggest mistake that was made on the day, to leave those victims alone for 10 minutes, (and divert officers) from a place they were badly needed, to a place they weren’t?” David Boldt, counsel assisting the coroner, suggested yesterday.

“Yes, but they did so with the understanding ambulances were coming forward,” the Southern-based commander replied.

Boldt doubled down, saying that as mistakes go, this was probably the biggest. “Shouldn’t this have come up in the debrief?” he asked.

“One hundred per cent ... I don’t believe anyone in April was aware of this. I certainly wasn’t,” the commander replied.

He added he did not know that only three armed staff were left outside, leaving insufficient resources to provide first aid inside. He agreed this would have been useful for him to know. The commander was on annual leave on the day of the attacks and returned to work a few days later, the inquest heard.

Ambulance staff were not part of the debrief, which the commander labelled a “significant omission”. He pointed to a new public safety radio network to be trialled in Canterbury next year to improve communication between police and St John during emergencies.

Under the new network, the emergency services will continue to operate independently but will share a new radio channel during larger responses, the inquest heard.

During cross-examination from Abbie Hollingworth, counsel for some families, the commander said armed response vehicles – which roam cities with armed police inside – were trialled in New Zealand following the attacks but “didn’t sit well with the community” and were scrapped.

Simulating injuries in police training had become more realistic since March 15 to help prevent first responders becoming overwhelmed, the commander said. Virtual reality technology was being looked at to assist.

The inquest previously heard from overseas counter-terrorism experts who said the more realistic the real-life event training for emergency services, the better.

The armed offenders squad radio channel not being recorded on the day was a “huge equipment failure”, the commander said.

As a result of the debrief, it was now also easier for officers to switch between police channel one and the AOS channel while at a scene, he said.