New Zealand’s worst mass shooting in modern history appears to be the act of a lone gunman who attacked worshipers at two mosques out of racial hatred.
The death toll from Friday’s massacre in the South Island city of Christchurch has risen to 50 after another victim was located at one of the crime scenes, police said yesterday.
One person has been charged with murder while three other people apprehended with firearms are not believed to be involved, they said.
Photo: AFP
“At this point, only one person has been charged in relation to these attacks,” New Zealand Commissioner Mike Bush told reporters. “I will not be saying anything conclusive until we are absolutely convinced as to how many people were involved.”
Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man, appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Saturday charged with one count of murder. He entered no plea and was remanded in custody until April 5.
He is expected to face further charges, police said.
Photo: AFP
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was seeking advice on Tarrant’s possible deportation to Australia, but it was too soon to say whether that was likely.
“He will certainly face the justice system of New Zealand for the terrorist act he committed here,” she told a news conference yesterday. “As for the remainder I am seeking advice. I don’t want to pre-empt anything.”
Tarrant grew up in the small Australian city of Grafton and worked in a local gym as a personal trainer, Australia’s Nine News reported.
Photo: AP
He left his job in 2010 after the death of his father and traveled extensively.
Turkey’s vice president and foreign affairs minister are to visit Christchurch over the next two days to pay their respects and meet with members of the Muslim community, Ardern said.
She said yesterday that Tarrant spent “sporadic periods of time” in New Zealand and most recently lived in Dunedin.
Police said that they recovered two semi-automatic weapons, two shotguns and a lever-action firearm after the attacks.
Tarrant had a category-A gun license, which meant he could legally buy the weapons he used, although there are suggestions they were altered to make them more lethal.
Ardern indicated she would move quickly to tighten gun laws, saying a ban on semi-automatic weapons is one possibility that will be discussed by ministers today.
Gun shops around New Zealand on Saturday reported increased sales of firearms, including semi-automatics, ammunition and magazines, as people rushed to acquire them before the government acts, according to the Newsroom Web site.
Tarrant posted a manifesto online before the attack, suggesting a racially motivated act of terrorism.
In a rambling document that is dozens of pages long, he says he was inspired by Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who was responsible for the deaths of 77 people in 2011.
The document was sent to more than 30 addresses, including the prime minister’s office about nine minutes before the first emergency calls were received, Ardern said yesterday.
There was no indication of a time or location of any actual attack in the document, she said.
Meanwhile, another Australian citizen has been praised for trying to confront Tarrant outside Linwood Masjid, the second mosque to be attacked, where seven people were killed.
When former Afghan refugee Abdul Aziz saw a man brandishing a gun outside the mosque, he ran toward him armed with the only weapon he could find — a credit card machine.
“You don’t have much time to think, whatever you think of, you just do it, you know,” Aziz told Agence France-Presse, brushing off the “hero” tag as local Muslims gathered to thank him for saving relatives and friends. “I just wanted to save as much lives as I could, even if I lose my life.”
Aziz and his four sons were worshipping at the mosque when they heard gunfire outside the building.
Aziz ran out of the mosque, grabbing a small credit-card processing device. Outside, he was stunned to find an armed man wearing military-style fatigues.
“At first, I didn’t know if he was the good guy or the bad guy. But when he started swearing, I knew he was not the good guy,” Aziz said.
Aziz hurled the machine at Tarrant and then ducked between cars as the gunman unleashed a barrage of shots at him.
Unhurt, he picked up an empty shotgun the gunman had discarded and shouted “come on here” repeatedly in an effort to draw him away from his sons and the other worshipers.
“When he see the gun in my hands, I don’t know what happened, he dropped the gun and I chased him with my own gun... I managed to throw the gun on his car and smash the car window, and I could see he was a bit frightened,” Aziz said.
The 48-year-old kept chasing the attacker as he sped off in his car.
Aziz arrived in Australia as a child refugee. He lived in Sydney for almost three decades before moving to Christchurch two-and-a-half years ago.
Additional reporting by AFP
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