© AP
A sophisticated multi-site terror attack beginning at 1:40pm local time in New Zealand earlier today saw several locations in the city of Christchurch
targeted by multiple gunmen, prompting a major security operation and placing much of the city on lockdown. So far, 49 people have been confirmed killed, while an additional 48 have been injured.
Media accounts have begun narrowing the focus to one individual, a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant, who wore a GoPro camera to livestream his part in the attack, but local police report that they have so far
arrested four people. The sadistic psychopath attacked the Masjid Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue, east of the city center, 10 minutes after noon prayers began, so it was full of worshipers as he unloaded multiple magazines from one of several weapons he brought with him. Bodies have also been found in adjacent streets so some of the victims appear to have been shot dead outside the mosque. One was that of a child, slain in the middle of Deans Avenue.
Tarrant cannot have been the only shooter, however. An eyewitness
told the Christchurch Star that she was in her car near the Al Noor Mosque as the attack began. Moments after hearing gunfire, she says
"four to five men came running towards her." Terrified they would spot her, she put her seat down so she could hide in place. Police had not yet arrived on the scene.
A second shooting incident began, within 5 minutes of the beginning of the Al Noor attack, at another mosque, the Linwood Masjid on Linwood Avenue. This site is
5 kms to the east of the Al Noor Mosque. So far 7 people have been reported killed there - again, some inside the building, some outside. Eyewitnesses at this location
say they saw a man leave the mosque "wearing camouflage gear and a motorcycle helmet," and that some locals
gave chase as the gunman fled.
Comment: