Carnage as shooters attack NZ mosques
WELLINGTON: Scores of people have been killed in bloody shootings at mosques in the usually peaceful country of New Zealand.
At the time of publication, at least 49 people had been confirmed dead and another 48 – some of them children – injured, 20 of them seriously.
Three men and one woman have been arrested following fatal shooting attacks on two mosques in Christchurch today, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said.
He said there had been some “absolute acts of bravery” by police officers as they detained the suspects.
He also said “there were a number of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) attached to vehicles that we stopped.”
He said he could not comment “conclusively” on the motives of the attackers but said: “It doesn’t get any more serious.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, speaking at a press conference, said: “It is clear that this is one of New Zealand’s darkest days.
“This is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”
She said New Zealand had been placed on its highest security threat level. She said four people in police custody held extremist views, but had not been on any police watchlists.
Ardern said many of those in the mosque were likely to be migrants.
“New Zealand is their home. They should be safe here!
“There is no place in New Zealand for extreme violence,” she said.
Her Antipodean counterpart, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Twitter that he was “horrified” by news from across the Tasman Sea: “I’m horrified by the reports.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with our Kiwi cousins.”
The video recording of his statement was published by the broadcaster, 1 NEWS, which, citing an Australian police source, reported that one of the shooters was Brenton Tarrant from Grafton New South Wales in Australia.