Christchurch mosque shooting: At least 50 dead as police confirm Australian gunman acted alone
New Zealand authorities were sent a copy of an extremist manifesto minutes before the mosque attack began. But by the time it was escalated, emergency calls were already flooding in.
True Crime
Don't miss out on the headlines from True Crime. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Forensic Police in Christchurch are working frantically to identify the mass shooting victims as tensions rise in the local Muslim community over delays in releasing bodies for burial.
Just how difficult their task at two of the shooting sites was, police revealed the body of a 50th victim had only just been found at the Masjid Al Noor Mosque, bringing the total slaughtered there to 42. A further 50 people were injured in total, 34 remain in hospital, 12 in critical condition.
Australian Brenton Tarrant has been charged with last Friday’s massacre.
RESPONSE TIMES REVEALED
New Zealand police have responded to questions about the time it took to respond to reports of the mosque attacks.
“There has been some speculation around the Police response times to the first attack on Deans Ave on Friday. To clarify, Police received its first 111 (emergency) call at 1.41pm,” the commissioner said in a statement today. “The first armed Police unit was on scene at 1.47pm. That’s six minutes to respond.
“Within 10 minutes, our Armed Offenders Squad was on scene. Within 36 minutes, a mobile offender was in custody. I am very proud of the Police response to this terrible attack.”
MANIFESTO THREAT
Prime Minister Ardern has revealed she had received an alert about Tarrant’s social media manifesto where he threatened the slaughter, nine minutes before his alleged actions and it was passed to parliamentary security within two minutes.
“I was one of more than 30 recipients of the manifesto that was mailed out nine minutes before the attack took place,” she told reporters.
“It did not include a location, it did not include specific details,” she said, adding that it was sent to security services within two minutes of receipt. “I reiterate, this was received by over 30 recipients nine minutes before guns were fired …
“Within two minutes of its receipt it went to our Parliamentary security, but again, the advice we have from police is that actually by the timing of that email and the details being passed on they were already receiving emergency calls and responding.”
Cabinet is to meet Monday to discuss changing gun laws she said.
“I have already said there will be gun law changes, and there will be. The nature of those changes I am looking to move on as quickly as we can, but I do need to talk them through with Cabinet, and then we will look to share them publicly as soon as we are able.”
PRESSURE TO RELEASE BODIES
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said all the bodies had been removed from that mosque and at the Linwood Masjid Mosque where another seven people were killed but they could not yet be released.
“We have to be absolutely clear on cause of death and confirm their identity before that can happen,” he said. “But we are so aware of the cultural and religious needs, so we are doing that as quickly and sensitively as possible.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a very small number of bodies would be released tonight but it could be up to Wednesday before the process is complete.
She added six disaster victim identification staff from Australia were now in Christchurch and actively involved in the difficult process.
“I know uncertainty continues to cause distress, we are doing what we can, agencies on the ground are doing what they can to move as quickly as possible, that is why we have brought in members of the Australian victims identification team to try and process what needs to be done as quickly as possible,” she said
Prime Minister Ardern said the city should expect an increased police presence on the streets in the city on Monday to assure the public of safety.
PARENTS GRIEVE
Mucaad Ibrahim, just three years old, was lost in the melee when the firing started at the Al Noor mosque as his older brother Abdi fled for his life and his father pretended to be dead after being shot.
The New Zealand Herald reported that the family searched in vain for the toddler at Christchurch hospital and later posted a photograph of Mucaad, smiling with Abdi with the caption: “Verily we belong to God and to Him we shall return. Will miss you dearly brother”.
Abdi described his little brother as “energetic, playful and liked to smile and laugh a lot,” confessing he felt nothing but “hatred” for his killer.
Four of Adan Ibrahin Dirie’s five children managed to escape Friday’s attacks, but the youngest, Abdullahi, aged just four, was killed. Dirie also suffered gunshot wounds and was hospitalized. The family fled Somalia in the mid-1990s as refugees and resettled in New Zealand.
“You cannot imagine how I feel,” his uncle, Hashi, said. “He was the youngest in the family. This is a problem of extremism. Some people think the Muslims in their countryare part of that, but these are innocent people.”
Mr Bush also revealed police had brought in “a very large contingent” of ethnic liaison officers to work directly with the families of each victim as well as religious leaders.
Police released a preliminary list of the victims to families, which has helped give closure to some relatives but one woman collapsed and was in hospital after hearing the news of her loved ones including husband killed.
Families of the victims yesterday gave police photographs of their loved ones to help with identification but a local Pakistani-born liaison staff working directly with them, said photographs may not be enough.
“Photographs may not help all, the faces of some of the victims are completely ruined (by the shooting) so they can’t be identified like this and more needs to be done,” she told News Corp Australia.
“This was a genocide and some of the families who came here from overseas know war, they know terror, they are familiar with these things but they came here to be safe and did not expect it here. They just want to wash and bury their dead.”
Authorities yesterday sent in backhoes to dig new graves in a Muslim burial area that was newly fenced off and blocked from view with white netting. Dozens of people from Auckland’s Muslim community and elsewhere bussed down to Christchurch to also help with the burial process including the washing of bodies.
Islamic law calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death, usually within 24 hours.
Prime Minister Ardern also replied to a question as to comments by Australian Senator Fraser Anning simply by saying: “They were a disgrace”. Senator Anning has taken to social media and spoken in public blaming the massacre on immigration.
NZ TRIAL
The Prime Minister said Tarrant will face charges and trial in New Zealand. The possibility of deportation to Australia will be considered afterwards, she said.
“That is something that actually I would want to seek some direct advice on … because of course when it comes to extremism and inciting violence, demarcating that between domestic and international is — I would have thought — in some cases difficult. As I say, as I have said before, in this case obviously very close co-operation between New Zealand and Australia.”
Prime Minister Ardern said her government had worked as hard as possible with Google, Facebook and Twitter to remove social media footage of the carnage.
In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload...
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) March 17, 2019
Out of respect for the people affected by this tragedy and the concerns of local authorities, we're also removing all edited versions of the video that do not show graphic content." — Mia Garlick, Facebook New Zealand
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) March 17, 2019
“But ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal and support their removal,” she said. “I do think that there are further questions to be answered. This is an issue that goes well beyond New Zealand but it doesn’t mean we can’t play an active role in seeing it resolved.”
Within minutes of the Prime Minister speaking, Facebook issued a statement saying it will continue to work with New Zealand police. “We continue to work around the clock to remove violating content using a combination of technology and people,” Facebook New Zealand manager Mia Garlick said.
Prime Minister Ardern added the performance of New Zealand’s intelligence agencies would also be reviewed.
“No question that we need to have a conference in response to the range of issues and questions this has raised for us. I will be having these discussions with Cabinet tomorrow.”
DEATH TOLL RISES
The death toll from the Christchurch terror attack has risen to 50, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush says.
The latest victim was discovered at the Deans Avenue mosque while police removed victims from the crime scenes.
“As of last night we were able to take all of the victims out of those scenes and in doing so we have located another victim,” he said.
The New Zealand Police Commissioner confirmed Australian man Brenton Tarrant was the sole gunman responsible for both mosque shootings.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today laid flowers at the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington, where she laid a wreath and embraced mourners.
New Zealanders have gathered at hundreds of vigils across the country, leaving floral tributes and messages of support.
The massacre has caused outrage among Muslim communities around the world.
Fiery protests have taken place in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan, where angry crowds burned images of the NSW-born gunman Tarrant.
At this morning’s media conference, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said a man and a woman arrested soon after the shootings, were not linked to the gunman. The woman has been released without charge, the man has been charged with firearm offences.
The 18-year-old man arrested was “tangential” and not related.
“At this moment, only one person has been charged in relation to these attacks.”
The police commissioner said it had been confirmed that Tarrant, who grew up in the NSW town of Grafton, had used a modified a category A firearm.
Social media let massacre video stay up for 12 hours
‘We don’t hate Australia, he’s just a d**khead’
NZ terror: The victims and the missing
From kid to killer: Monster behind NZ massacre
HEAD OF SURGERY TELLS OF HORROR
On top of the death toll of 50, the number of people injured is also 50. Thirty-six of those remain in Christchurch Hospital.
The head of Christchurch Hospital Greg Robertson confirmed that 12 of the injured victims are in intensive care.
Of the children in hospital, “there’s two other children in the hospital at present and their condition is stable”. He also said the young girl who was flown to Auckland is still in a critical condition.
Of the patients admitted to hospital care, Robertson said they are “predominantly males”.
As hundreds of family and friends await news of their loved ones from the Christchurch mosque massacre, the world stopped to pray for three-year-old Mucad Ibrahim.
MOSQUE’S IMAM SPEAKS OUT
The imam of the mosque where seven worshippers were killed says that the massacre hasn’t shattered his community — or its trust in their adopted homeland.
“We still love this country,” said Ibrahim Abdul Halim, who was leading Friday prayers at Linwood Islamic Centre when the attack happened. “Extremists would never ever touch our confidence.”
“My children live here,” Halim said. “They start to … give me big hugs, and give me more solidarity,” he said. “This is something very important.”
NEW FOOTAGE OF AUSTRALIAN GUNMAN’S ARREST
New footage has showed the moments after unarmed police stopped Tarrant’s car on a Christchurch street by ramming it, dragging him from the vehicle and disarming him, turning his own weapon on the terrorist.
How unarmed NZ cops caught mosque gunman
Tarrant’s family called police as horror unfolded
Delusions of NZ’s white supremacist gunman
AUSTRALIA STANDS BY NZ WITH SILVER FERN
In a sign of solidarity, a silver fern has been projected onto the Sydney Opera House following the Christchurch attack. The sails of the Opera House were lit up on Saturday night in tribute to those who died.
Flinders street station is lit up in the colours of NZ. #ChristchurchTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/RZuL3xp9Mo
— Pravin (@madeof5tardust) March 15, 2019
The Silver Fern of New Zealand illumination represented “solidarity, support and respect”.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the display demonstrated the state’s unity and compassion towards everyone affected by the attacks.
“We feel the loss in Christchurch especially deeply given the closeness of our two countries. It is as though this has occurred on our own soil,” Ms Berejiklian said.
In Melbourne, the iconic frontage of Flinders Street Station was illuminated with the colours of the New Zealand flag as a show of support.
ARDERN’S OFFICE KNEW OF MANIFESTO
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office has confirmed it received a copy of accused Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant’s 73-page long manifesto just minutes before he carried out his mosque massacre.
According to the New Zealand Herald, Ms Ardern’s office confirmed it got a copy of the document less than 10 minutes before the attacks began on Friday.
There were 70 other recipients who were emailed the manifesto, including National leader Simon Bridges and Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard.
A spokesman for the PM’s office said it came to an email account managed by her office and not her private account.
“The mail was setting his reasons for doing it. He didn’t say this is what I am about to do. There was no opportunity to stop it,” a spokesman for Ms Ardern told the NZ Herald.
Once opened it was referred to Parliamentary security and then referred to police.
AUSTRALIAN GUNMAN’S EVIL HAND GESTURES
With an icy cold stare, a smirk and a right wing extremist hand signal, NSW man Brenton Harrison Tarrant faced Christchurch District Court on Saturday on a single murder charge related to the worst massacre in New Zealand’s history.
The 28-year-old, who grew up in Grafton, didn’t say anything, he was not yet required to.
But his thoughts were writ large on his demeanour as he calmly stared at the press gallery, and gently rocked on his feet. Then he made a subtle “white power” symbol with his fingers and again scanned the room seemingly looking for approval as he smirked.
His appearance lasted just three minutes, before the shackled and cuffed stocky Tarrant was ushered out of the courtroom. He was wearing the white prison garb he was handed after his arrest on Friday.
No plea was entered but will be required when he appears next in the High Court on April 5.
Judge Paul Kellar told the court there was only one charge at the moment “but assume there will be others”, the one charge sheet stating that he “on the 15th day of March 2019 at Christchurch murdered (name suppressed) … with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment”.
The judge suppressed the name of the male victim out of respect for his family and the broader community.
While Tarrant’s appearance lasted just three minutes, the judge spent 10 minutes to reflect on the tragedy from a legal point of view.
A large throng of press from all over the world were the only people allowed access to the locked-down court building to bear witness to the brief proceedings and he wanted to explain why the public was banned.
He said the media were “the surrogates of the public and I’ve taken this decision to clear the court for reasons of public safety”.
But he said for openness and transparency that were fundamental to the principles of New Zealand justice he allowed the brief proceedings to be filmed, photographed and audio recorded to relay to the world’s public.
He said he felt that was the court’s obligation to the victims.
As a precaution however he ordered the face of the defendant in his court proceedings be pixelated in case identity was to become an issue.
He said the recording on a pool basis followed applications by the media from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. He issued an 11-page instruction document to each individual press person in the room as a “reminder you are the eyes and ears of the public” and beholden to fair and balanced reporting.
Outside the courthouse, dozens of locals lined up on the steps behind a police cordon to catch a glimpse of the man who has traumatised their city. One man attempted to get into court and vocally threatened “to knife” the accused before he was moved on by police. Tensions were running high in this city. As the court case was going on, a few hundreds of metres away a dozens of locals gathered to lay flowers and wreaths at the spot where someone was randomly killed during Tarrant’s alleged drive-by shooting.
“It’s too much, just too much,” one woman said as she broke down in tears.
At a road junction close to the Al Noor mosque hundreds gathered to drop of flowers and show solidarity. Most of those at the site were white or of Maori descent in a show of defiance and solidarity.
Christchurch was quieter than usual with a high public police presence and some shops not opening today as the city mourns the deaths and the loss of innocence of the country, previously largely untouched by the spectre of terror.
Originally published as Christchurch mosque shooting: At least 50 dead as police confirm Australian gunman acted alone
Ex-Melbourne private schoolboy sentenced for bashing wife
Damien Carew, a graduate of the elite St Kevin’s College in Toorak, has learned his fate over charges for repeated domestic violence against his Russian wife.
Mum believed slain baby was a demon: court
A mentally ill mother believed her 10-month-old son was a demon and didn’t know what she was doing when she fatally restricted his breathing, a court has been told.