New Zealand police kill ‘terrorist’ after he stabs 6 people
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand authorities were so
worried about an Islamic extremist they were following him around-the-clock and
were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds of him unleashing a frenzied
knife attack that wounded six people Friday at an Auckland supermarket.
Three of the shoppers were taken to Auckland hospitals in
critical condition, police said. Another was in serious condition, while two
more were in moderate condition.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the incident was a terror
attack. She said the man was a Sri Lankan national who was inspired by the
Islamic State group and was well known to the nation’s security agencies.
Ardern said she had been personally briefed on the man in
the past but there had been no legal reason for him to be detained.
“Had he done something that would have allowed us to put him
into prison, he would have been in prison,” Ardern said.
The attack unfolded at about 2:40 p.m. at a Countdown
supermarket in New Zealand’s largest city.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said a police surveillance
team and a specialist tactics group had followed the man from his home to the
supermarket.
But while they had grave ongoing concerns about the man,
they had no particular reason to think he was planning an attack on Friday,
Coster said. The man appeared to be going into the store to do his grocery
shopping as he had in the past.
“He entered the store, as he had done before. He obtained a
knife from within the store,” Coster said. “Surveillance teams were as close as
they possibly could be to monitor his activity.”
Coster said that when the commotion started, two police from
the special tactics group rushed over. He said the man charged at the officers
with the knife and so they shot and killed him.
One bystander video taken from inside the supermarket
records the sound of 10 shots being fired in rapid succession.
Coster said there would be questions about whether police
could have reacted even quicker. He said that the man was very aware of the
constant surveillance and they needed to be some distance from him for it to be
effective.
Ardern said the attack was violent and senseless, and she
was sorry it had happened.
“What happened today was despicable. It was hateful. It was
wrong,” Ardern said. “It was carried out by an individual. Not a faith, not a
culture, not an ethnicity. But an individual person who is gripped by ideology
that is not supported here by anyone or any community.”
Ardern said the man had first moved to New Zealand in 2011
and had been monitored by security agencies since 2016. She said authorities
are confident he acted alone in the attack.
Ardern said legal constraints prevented her from discussing
everything that she wanted to about the case, but she was hoping to have those
constraints lifted soon.
Some shoppers in the supermarket tried to help those who had
been wounded by grabbing towels and diapers and whatever else they could find
from the shelves.
“To everyone who was there and who witnessed such a horrific
event, I can’t imagine how they will be feeling in the aftermath,” Ardern said.
“But thank you for coming to the aid of those who needed you when they needed
you.”
Extremist ideology is rare in New Zealand and Ardern said
that only a tiny number of people would be subject to such intense
surveillance.
Auckland is currently in a strict lockdown as it battles an
outbreak of the coronavirus. Most businesses are shut and people are generally
allowed to leave their homes only to buy groceries, for medical needs or to
exercise.
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