New Zealand Mosque Attack Reason || Reaction || Weapons

Attacks
 
Al Noor Mosque, Riccarton
The gunman began shooting worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque on Deans street, Riccarton, at around 1:forty pm. Police received the primary emergency call at 1:forty one pm.[40] between three hundred and 5 hundred people may additionally had been within the mosque attending Friday Prayer at the time of the taking pictures.[41] A neighbour of the mosque instructed reporters that he saw the gunman flee and drop what appeared to be a firearm inside the driveway.[42] The witness said the gunman regarded to be wearing army-fashion clothing.[43]

The gunman live-streamed the first 17 minutes of the assault on fb stay, beginning with the drive to the mosque and ending with the power away.[44] Moments earlier than the taking pictures, the gunman played a conventional marching track of the British military known as "The British Grenadiers", "gasoline gasoline fuel", a tune via Italian musician Manuel Karamori used in the anime edition of the manga series preliminary D, and "Serbia robust", a Serb nationalist music from the Bosnian battle (1992–1995) celebrating Radovan Karadžić, who changed into determined guilty of genocide against Bosnian Muslims.[45][46][47][48] simply earlier than the shooting, the gunman seemed to be greeted via one of the worshippers, who said "whats up, brother" and who changed into among the first people to be killed.[43][49][50]

The gunman spent several minutes within the mosque, shooting attendees indiscriminately. He killed 3 people near the doorway, and many others interior a bigger room. At some point of the attack, a worshipper, Mian Naeem Rashid, charged at the gunman however was shot, and later died in health facility.[51][52][53][54] The gunman approached wounded sufferers, firing at them multiple times. He then left the mosque and fired on humans outdoor. He went directly to retrieve another weapon from his vehicle before returning to the mosque to homicide greater sufferers, many of whom were already wounded and unable to break out. The gunman then exited the mosque for a second time and killed a lady near the footpath as she pleaded for assist. He left the scene quickly thereafter in his vehicle,[43][55] to the track of "fire" through The loopy global of Arthur Brown,[56][57][58] where the singer pronounces: "i'm the god of hellfire!"[59][60][61] He spent about six mins at the Al Noor Mosque.[62] The gunman shot different civilians inside the vicinity and drove away at high pace, heading inside the path of the Linwood Islamic Centre.[62][63][64]
Linwood Islamic Centre

A 2nd collection of shootings began at about 1:55 pm[65] on the Linwood Islamic Centre,[66][67] a mosque 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of the Al Noor Mosque.[43] Seven human beings had been killed.[63] in line with a survivor of this series of shootings, the gunman first of all did now not discover the door to the mosque and shot human beings outside and via a window, which alerted the ones internal.[68]

The mosque's appearing imam credited a worshipper named Abdul Aziz Wahabzadah with stopping the attack.[69][70][71] Wahabzadah informed media that he had taken a credit score-card reader and ran at the gunman hoping to distract him from attacking human beings within the mosque. Whilst the gunman retreated, Wahabzadah threw the credit card reader at him. The gunman took a firearm from his car and fired at Wahabzadah, who took cover among close by motors and retrieved an empty shotgun the gunman had dropped. The gunman endured firing on the mosque. When the gunman back to his vehicle again, Wahabzadah threw the shotgun and shattered a car window or the windscreen. The gunman then drove away.[70][71][72][73]
Arrest of essential suspect

Early reports indicated "a more than one, simultaneous assault",[74] however later simplest a single suspect become implicated.[75][76] He turned into arrested 21 mins after the first emergency name, on Brougham road (SH seventy six) in Sydenham.[77][78] mobile cellphone photos confirmed his car have been rammed against the kerb by way of a police automobile before his arrest at gunpoint.[79][80] prime Minister Ardern stated the suspect were making plans to retain the assault at a third area,[81] probably the mosque in Ashburton or the An-Nur child Care Centre in Hornby;[78] Police Commissioner Mike Bush corroborated this, stating that the police had stopped the suspect on his way to a third region.[82]

Victims

The assault killed 50 people: 42 at the Al Noor Mosque, seven on the Linwood Islamic Centre,[10] and person who died in Christchurch health center.[63][83] The a while of those killed ranged from 2 to 71.[84] In his replace of 17 March 2019, Commissioner Bush said that 50 additional human beings had been injured. 36 of these had been being treated for gunshot wounds at Christchurch sanatorium, two of whom have been in a severe condition, with one child at Starship children's clinic in Auckland.[13][14] countrywide futsal participant and IT entrepreneur Atta Elayyan became among the ones killed.[85][86] due to the wide variety of sufferers, the Christchurch police have been slow in asserting the identity of the victims; as of 20 March 2019, handiest about 30 of the 50 sufferers have been undoubtedly identified and their our bodies launched to their households.[82]

Inside the day following the attacks, dozens of people remained lacking[87] and several diplomatic places of work and overseas ministries launched statements concerning the range of victims from their countries.[88][89][90] The police asked missing people, or the ones listed as lacking, to register themselves on line as safe at the Restoring own family links website, managed with the aid of the global Committee of the crimson move.[91] A listing of lacking people has been posted via New Zealand purple go, and includes nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.[92] 

Reactions
 
World leaders
A photo of a woman from the waist up, hands clasped in front of her, with a sad facial expression. She is wearing a black dress and scarf with gold trim.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited members of the Muslim community at the Phillipstown Community Hub in Christchurch the day after the attacks.

Prime Minister Ardern called the incident an "act of extreme and unprecedented violence" and said "this is one of New Zealand's darkest days."[219][220][221] She also described it as a well-planned terrorist attack.[144] She also mentioned that she would render the person accused over the attack "nameless" and urged the public to speak the victims' names instead.[222] Commissioner Bush echoed the Prime Minister in saying that it "is now classified as a terrorist event."[223] Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel said she never thought "anything like this" could happen in New Zealand, saying "everyone is shocked".[144] Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, said she was "deeply saddened" by the attack.[224] Ardern received international praise for her response to the shootings.[225][226][227][228]

Politicians and world leaders condemned the attacks,[22][note 2] with some attributing the attack to rising Islamophobia.[265][266]

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, announced that Pakistani emigrant Mian Naeem Rashid, who confronted the gunman and was killed in the attack on the Al Noor mosque, would be posthumously honoured with a national award for his courage.[54][267][268][269][270]

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, repeatedly showed video taken by the attacker to his supporters at campaign rallies for upcoming local elections.[271][272] The New Zealand and Australian governments,[273] and Turkey's main opposition party have criticised him.[citation needed]
Alt-right

The gunman said in his manifesto that he supported US President Donald Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose", but did not support his leadership and policies.[274] When Trump was asked if he thought "white nationalists were a growing threat around the world", he replied "I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. It's certainly a terrible thing."[123]

The United Kingdom's domestic intelligence service, MI5, launched an enquiry into the shooter's possible links to the British far-right.[275]

New Zealand-based white-supremacist groups were quick to condemn the attack and distance themselves from the perpetrator.[276] However a number of alt-right leaders overseas and online posters supported the attack, hailing the shooter as a "hero" and calling the violence a part of an ongoing worldwide ethnic conflict between white and non-white people.[132][277] Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, said that this was "by far the funniest" mass shooting he had seen and that the shooter was already a "folk hero" to many, with the victims being "death cult invaders that he is slaughtering". Anglin also wrote: "I don't support this attack, obviously – I am a man of peace."[277]
Gun laws
For broader coverage of this topic, see Gun laws in New Zealand.

Gun laws in New Zealand came under scrutiny in the aftermath, specifically the legality of military-style semi-automatic rifles[278] compared to Australia, which banned them after the Port Arthur massacre, in 1996.[279] As gun-policy specialist Philip Alpers noted, "New Zealand is almost alone with the United States in not registering 96 percent of its firearms ... one can assume that the ease of obtaining these firearms may have been a factor in his decision to commit the crime in Christchurch."[280][281]

Prime Minister Ardern announced: "Our gun laws will change, now is the time ... People will be seeking change, and I am committed to that."[280] She continued, "There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change."[282] Attorney-General David Parker was later quoted as saying that the government will ban semi-automatic guns,[283] but subsequently backtracked on this statement, saying that the government had not yet committed to anything and that regulations around semi-automatic weapons was "one of the issues" the government would consider.[284] Ardern, at a press conference on 18 March, said that details of the proposed reforms would be given by 25 March.[155] Ardern announced a ban on 21 March, adding that she was working to have legislation in place as early as 11 April. As of 3pm that day semi-automatic and assault rifles were classified as needing an "E-category" licence. "After a reasonable period for returns, those who continue to possess these firearms will be in contravention of the law," Radio New Zealand reported. A "buy-back" scheme is also being considered.[285]

The day after the attack, many gun-store owners reported an increase in sales, particularly of semi-automatic weapons, in response to the prospect of stricter laws.[286] In contrast, some New Zealand gun owners have responded by voluntarily handing in their weapons to the police.[287] The New Zealand auction website Trade Me has since banned the sale of semi-automatic weapons on its platform.[288] In 2018 it was reported that of the 1.5 million registered firearms in New Zealand, 15,000 were semi automatic weapons. Despite this number and despite Police appeals, cabinet is still undecided on a gun register.[289][290][291]