NEW ZEALAND POLICE: GUNMAN IN MOSQUE ATTACKS ACTED ALONE
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Monday that the gunman who killed 50 people and wounded others at two Christchurch mosques acted alone but may have had support.
Authorities have charged Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant with a single count of murder. Tarrant was arrested moments after the shootings on Friday. A judge said Saturday he may face other charges.
Bush said at a Monday news conference that “We believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this.”
But he added that the support of other people hasn’t been ruled out and is “a very, very important part of our investigation.”
Meanwhile, the owner of a Christchurch gun shop on Monday acknowledged selling guns online to Tarrant, a 28-year-old white supremacist.
At a news conference, Gun City owner David Tipple said the store sold four guns and ammunition to Brenton Harrison Tarrant through a “police-verified online mail order process.”
The store “detected nothing extraordinary,” about the buyer, he said.
None of the guns sold to Tarrant were military-style, semi-automatic weapons. Calling for gun laws to be tightened, Ardern has said the attacker used five guns, two of them semi-automatic, which were purchased with an ordinary gun license and modified.
It was not clear if any of the firearms Tarrant purchased from Gun City were used in Friday’s shootings.
“My staff and I are dismayed and disgusted by what happened last Friday afternoon,” Tipple said. “We cannot comprehend how such despicable actions could be carried out on those at prayer in a place of worship.”
Tipple said he felt no responsibility for the tragedy and refused to say whether he believed gun laws should change.
“This man wrote in his manifesto that the purpose of using a firearm was to divide us,” Tipple said. “If we allow him to make changes in our ideology, in our behavior, he’s won.”