Christchurch shooting LIVE: Death toll from mosque attacks rises to 50, with 12 in intensive care

• One additional victim's body was found today, taking the death toll to 50, with 50 more injured
• Members of Brenton Tarrant's family have spoken out for the first time
• Police 'do not believe' the three other people apprehended on Friday were involved in the attack
• New Zealand experiences a spree of people 'panic buying' guns after fears of tighter firearm laws
• Muslim volunteers from Australia have arrived to help with the task of washing the bodies of the dead
• A petition calling for Fraser Anning to be removed from parliament is closing in on one million signatures
• Australian citizen Abdul Aziz is being hailed as a hero who saved many more lives
• Jacinda Ardern's office was sent Brenton Tarrant's manifesto, along with dozens of other people

The Australian family have expressed sorrow and pain towards the victims of the Christchurch massacre, declaring his violence “unrepairable”.

Grandmother Marie Fitzgerald, 81, told Nine News in Grafton she used to babysit her now 28-year-old grandson and his sister when they were younger and Tarrant was "an ordinary chap" who enjoyed spending time on the computer.

 

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They were new fathers. Loving mothers. Adored sisters and brothers. Cherished aunts and uncles. Best friends. Admired colleagues.

March 15, 2019, will be forever remembered as the blood-soaked day a gunman walked into two Christchurch mosques and killed 50 people.

The stories of the dead are slowly emerging. So too, the details of acts of incredible courage.

 

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Before allegedly embarking on a rampage that would leave 50 innocent worshippers dead, Brenton Tarrant posted a goodbye to the website 8Chan encouraging his alt-right companions to keep “making memes and 'shit posting'”.

Throughout his live-streamed killing spree he made reference to online in-jokes, and even as he fronted court, flanked by police and charged with murder, Tarrant flashed a white power hand sign used in neo-Nazi circles.

 

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Intelligence agencies on both sides of the Tasman are scrambling to work out how accused terrorist Brenton Tarrant evaded detection while planning his massacre in Christchurch, amid concerns of further violence by far-right extremists.

And, in comments backed by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, a former NSW deputy police commissioner has called for the creation of a national database of hate crimes, which he described as a stepping stone towards the type of mass murder that claimed 50 lives in Christchurch.

 

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They walked side by side up the white marble steps of St Mary’s Cathedral in central Sydney, the Catholic archbishop in his purple robes, the Muslim grand mufti in a black suit and tie.

They were to speak of 50 lives lost and two countries anguished by violence, in an interfaith ceremony dedicated to the Christchurch massacre.

 

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Facebook is under mounting global pressure over the way it handles offensive content in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre after a video of the murders was livestreamed and shared widely on its platform.

The social media giant, alongside Google's YouTube and Twitter, has grappled to take down millions of copies of footage that showed the slaughter in New Zealand. Facebook has come under particular scrutiny as it was the platform chosen by the gunman to livestream the mosque attacks.

 

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The Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers both paid tribute to the Christchurch victims before kick-off.

 

Abdul Aziz, the man who has been described as hero after he attacked and chased off the terrorist at the Linwood Mosque is an Australian citizen who lived in Sydney for 27 years after leaving Afghanistan as a refugee.

Aziz, a father of eight, lived in Sydney and worked as a builder before moving to New Zealand about two and a half years ago.

As Aziz spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age outside the hospital in Christchurch he was embraced by two young men who kissed him and said: "You are our hero, you saved our lives."

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"You will feel safe going about what you want to do tomorrow," said New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush.

 

Commissioner Bush assured local police in Christchurch will have 'every available resource' that they need. 

 

NZ Police Commissioner Mike Bush.Credit: AAP

 

He also spoke about the swift response of local police regarding Friday's attack.

 

"Within six minutes of police being called, armed police were on the scene - within ten minutes, members our armed offenders squad were on the scene. And within 36 minutes, we had that mobile offender in our custody," he said.