UPDATED: Mass shootings at New Zealand mosques kill 49; 1 man charged NZmosqueshooting
Last Updated Friday, March 15, 2019 7:12AM EDT
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the events in Christchurch represented "an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence," and that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees. In addition to the dead, she said more than 20 people were seriously wounded.Police took three men and a woman into custody after the shootings, which shocked people across the nation of five million people. One person was later released.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that one of the people detained was an Australian-born citizen. Bush said police had found two improvised explosive devices in one car, a clarification from an earlier statement that there were devices in multiple vehicles. He said they had disabled one and were in the process of disabling the second.
"I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque," he said. "I don't understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It's ridiculous.""I've lived next door to this mosque for about five years and the people are great, they're very friendly," he said. "I just don't understand it.
The gunman then walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground. After walking back outside and shooting a woman there, he gets back in his car, where the song "Fire" by English rock band "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" can be heard blasting from the speakers. The singer bellows, "I am the god of hellfire!" and the gunman drives away. The video then cuts out.One more person died later at Christchurch Hospital.
The man who claimed responsibility for the shooting said he came to New Zealand only to plan and train for the attack. He said he was not a member of any organization, but had donated to and interacted with many nationalist groups, though he acted alone and no group ordered the attack. Home to nearly 400,000 people, Christchurch is the largest city on New Zealand's South Island. Sometimes called the garden city, it has been rebuilding since an earthquake in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed many downtown buildings.
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