Where are we safe now?”Īs shots rang out, police put the city in lockdown and evacuated nearby climate change protests, with children separated from their relatives looked after by council staff until it was safe. They only see religion … They don’t see people any more. “I am new to New Zealand and at the mosque you find your friends and family. Photograph: Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images The national flag is flown at half-mast on a parliament building in Wellington. He escaped through the back door, but said his son-in-law was shot in the shoulder and his nephew was trapped inside. Mohammed, a Fijian Muslim who also did not wish to give his last name, was in Al Noor mosque when the shooting started. ![]() Hassan’s home is within the Al Noor police cordon, and he was unable to return on Friday night. Police told me: ‘I am sorry, this is the first time this has ever happened in this country.’” “I don’t know who of my friends is dead or alive now. “The shooter was screaming a lot and waving the gun in every direction, shooting, shooting, shooting,” he said. He was at the Linwood mosque’s Friday prayer service when the shooting began, and hit the floor as women around him rose up and screamed at the gunmen “Do not come here,” some of them charging towards the gunman. Hassan, 29, a Sri Lankan Muslim who has lived in New Zealand for six months, said he came to the country for its “peace, and because there are no wars”. Linwood mosque attack graphic ‘Where are we safe now?’ None of the suspects were on terrorism watchlists, Ardern said. New Zealand’s threat level has been raised from low to high. ![]() Ardern condemned the ideology of the people behind the shootings, saying: “You may have chosen us but we utterly reject and condemn you.” The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, called the massacre a “rightwing extremist attack” and said one suspect was Australian-born, without giving further details. ![]() A Christchurch spokesperson told local media police were concerned the suspects had plans to target the victims of the mosque attack as they were transported to hospital.Ī “manifesto” was posted online before the attacks, in which the suspected gunman espoused far-right and anti-immigrant ideology. Hotels in the inner city stationed security guards at their entrances, and armed police protected landmarks of significance, including the courthouse and Christchurch hospital, which is believed to have been a further target. ![]() “This inquiry presents an important and critical opportunity to also look at what we may learn from this atrocity and speak for those who have lost their lives in an effort to protect the living,” she said.New Zealand’s entire police arsenal and personnel were deployed throughout the country and en masse in Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city, which is known to have an active white-supremacist subculture. She said the objective was to provide answers to outstanding questions for grieving families about what happened to their loved ones - and to examine whether anything further can be done to prevent further tragedies. The inquest began at about 10am with a powerful and harrowing video tribute to the 51 men, women and children murdered as they gathered to pray in March 2019.Ĭoroner Windley made a brief opening address about the inquest process and why it was crucial to seek answers, for not just the families of the dead and survivors but for the whole of New Zealand. She said anyone who did not want to see the video was more than welcome to leave the courtroom - or disconnect the link if they were watching the proceedings remotely. She said while the content was not graphic, it would likely be upsetting and disturbing for some. This morning, Coroner Windley advised those attending the inquest that the footage would be played and what it would show - and not show.
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