Armed assaults on a pair of mosques in New Zealand left 49 people dead on Friday. Here’s what we know about the suspects, the dead and the political reaction
At about 1:45 p.m., worshippers were gathered at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch for Friday prayers. Witness Len Peneha, who lives next door to the mosque, told Associated Press he saw a white man dressed in black enter the mosque. Mr. Peneha then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running from the building in terror. The gunman then ran out, dropped what appeared to be a semiautomatic weapon in Mr. Peneha’s driveway and fled.
Police speak to a resident as they cordon off Linwood Avenue near the Linwood Masjid in Christchurch.In all, 49 people were killed in both attacks, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said. Most died at Masjid Al Noor, where 41 were killed. The consul of Bangladesh in Auckland confirmed to Reuters that three Bangladeshi citizens were among the dead, four were injured and one was missing.Police took three people into custody, including a man in his late 20s who was charged with murder.
A man who claimed responsibility for the shootings left a 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto in which he explained who he was and his reasoning for the attack. He said he was a 28-year-old white Australian and a racist. The manifesto, posted anonymously to the forum site 8chan, cited “white genocide,” a term typically used by racist groups to refer to immigration and the growth of minority populations, as his motivation.
Watch: Footage posted on social media purports to show armed police detaining a suspect in the Christchurch shootings.Mass shootings, and violent crime in general, is rare in New Zealand and police do not usually carry guns. The deadliest in modern history occurred in the small town of Aramoana in 1990, when gunman David Gray shot and killed 13 people after a dispute with a neighbour. He was killed by police.in which extremists have targeted houses of worship.
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