Christchurch terror: First funerals of victims of mosque attacks
As Christchurch buried the first massacre victims, NZ police revealed the gunman was on his way to a third attack when arrested.
The accused Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant was planning at least one more significant attack before he was arrested, Police Commissioner Mike Bush has revealed.
He said the 28-year-old Australian “absolutely” intended to kill more victims after attacking two mosques.
“We strongly believe we stopped him on the way to a further attack,” Mr Bush said at a press conference, “So lives were saved by our staff” who were “courageous in their intervention”.
He said police knew where the gunman was heading, but declined to comment further, wary of traumatising those who may have been caught up in any violence.
We absolutely believe we know where he was going and we intervened on the way.” Mr Bush said police and security officers had checked and secured the intended target for any danger from explosives or other threats.
The information came as Mr Bush commended his officers for their speed in response to the attack.
The two officers who made the arrest have been hailed as heroes, given the shooter was still armed and home-made bombs were found in the car.
Mr Bush said the alleged gunman was arrested 21 minutes after police were alerted.
It took 5 minutes and 39 seconds for police to be armed and on the scene ready to respond to the attack, he said. In 10 minutes the armed offenders squad was on the scene.
“In 21 minutes the person now in custody was arrested from when we were first notified to when we intervened and he was arrested, away from further harm from the public,” Bush said.
“We strongly we believe we stopped him on the way to further attack. Lives were saved.”
A focus of the investigation was now whether the gunman had support from others, particularly in scoping the targets.
There were currently no such people of interest to police.
Meanwhile, Mr Bush revealed more details about the international nature of the investigation, including the arrival of FBI staff in Christchurch and Wellington who will help with profiling the shooter.
“They have expertise, tragically, on these types of investigation so they’re lending their expertise.” The Australian Federal Police, NSW Police and other Australian jurisdictions were also providing help, he said.
First funerals
The revelation came as the first funerals for two of 50 victims of last week’s mosque shootings were held.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at Christchurch’s Memorial Park Cemetery as New Zealanders braced for days of emotional farewells following the mass slayings.
Mourners hugged and embraced each other, milling under a large marquee next to rows of freshly dug graves ahead of the interment of a father and son under Islamic funeral rites.
They are Khaled Mustafa, 44, and his 15-year-old son, Hamza, who had arrived in New Zealand from Syria just months ago.
The Mustafa family arrived last year as refugees in New Zealand seeking sanctuary from the maelstrom of Syria.
Instead, Khaled and Hamza were shot dead at the Al Noor Mosque, the first mosque attacked.
Younger brother Zaid, 13, was wounded but survived and attended the funeral in a wheelchair, his hands held aloft as he prayed alongside the rows of mourners.
A funeral prayer echoed out across the cemetery and beyond, as father and son were carried across the site and lowered into the ground.
Among those in attendance was Abdul Aziz, an Afghan refugee who bravely confronted the gunman at Linwood Mosque. He was hugged by many mourners.
Families of those killed had been anxiously awaiting word on when they could bury their loved ones.
New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police have now formally identified and released the remains of 21 of those killed. Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible.
Authorities had spent four days building a special grave at a city cemetery that is designated for Muslim burials, even though some of the bodies were being brought back to their home countries, officials said.
“I am sad”
It came as New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern renewed her call to remember the 50 victims rather than the white supremacist accused of slaughtering them.
Ms Ardern this morning visited a school where two boys killed in last week’s attacks were students.
In a speech at Cashmere High School, Ms Ardern renewed her call for people to focus on the victims rather than the perpetrator, and told students “It’s OK to grieve”.
Asked by a student how she felt, Ardern replied simply: “I am sad”.
She says there will be interest in the terrorist but asked the students not to say his name or dwell on him.
The Cashmere High students killed were 14-year-old Sayyad Milne and 16-year-old Hamza Mustafa. A third Cashmere student, Mustafa’s 13-year-old brother Zaed, is recovering from gunshot wounds to his leg.
Ms Ardern’s plea not to give any notoriety to the accused Australian shooter came after the man dismissed his lawyer, opting instead to represent himself.
That has raised concerns he will use the trial as a platform for his racist views.
“He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless,” Ardern said in an address to parliament on Tuesday.
“He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing — not even his name.”
AP, AFP
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