(CNN)Worshipers ran from gunfire, desperately called police and
huddled beneath the benches of two Christchurch mosques before two lightly
armed community police officers apparently ran the gunman's car to the side of
the road and brought the atrocity to an end after a terrifying 36 minutes.
New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the gunman
intended to continue his attack if he hadn't been stopped. "There were two
other firearms in the vehicle that the offender was in and it absolutely was
his intention to continue with his attack," she told reporters.
New Zealand police announced Sunday that 50 people had been killed
and 50 others wounded in the unprecedented attack that stunned the nation and
the world. The suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, appeared in court Saturday,
charged with one count of murder. Ardern said more charges would be laid.
Tarrant, 28, was handcuffed and wearing a white prison jumpsuit
when he quietly walked into the courtroom. He did not enter a plea, but made a
hand gesture associated with white supremacists.
He was remanded in custody and is set to reappear in
court April 5.
Authorities implemented extra security measures. The
courtroom was closed to the public, the name of the victim was withheld by
authorities and a judge ruled that pictures of the suspect in court must have
his face blurred.
The attack, apparently broadcast live for a time on
social media, is the deadliest mass killing in New Zealand since 1943. Ardern
labeled the carnage a terrorist attack and has vowed to change the country's
gun laws as a result.
Police presence in Christchurch and around the country
was heightened while families arrived to streets near the mosques with tributes
for the victims.
"This attack has been an enormous shock for all
New Zealanders, and I am aware that there is a real sense of fear and concern
for personal safety, particularly among our Muslim communities," New
Zealand police commissioner Mike Bush said.
Victims from across the globe
Many of the victims hailed from around the world.
Ardern said some were from Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh,
Indonesia and Malaysia. At least two Jordanian citizens were killed and five
others wounded in the shootings, the country's Foreign Ministry said.
A five-year-old girl was critically wounded and had
surgery but remained in serious condition, her uncle, Sabri al-Daraghmeh, told
Jordan's al-Mamlaka TV. She was shot in the face, the abdomen and the leg.
Al-Daraghmeh told the station that his brother was also wounded and remained in
stable condition. He was shot in the abdomen and the leg.
Four Pakistani citizens were also wounded, Pakistani
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Friday on his official Twitter
account. Five other Pakistani citizens were still unaccounted for, he said.
Prime Minister vows change to gun laws
As Ardern revealed details about the suspect's weapons
and his background, she promised changes to the country's gun laws. The
shooter, who had a gun license acquired in November 2017, carried out the
killings with two semi-automatic weapons, two shotguns and a lever-action
firearm, Ardern said.
"While work is being done as to the chain of
events that lead to both the holding of this gun license and the possession of
these weapons, I can tell you one thing right now -- our gun laws will
change," Ardern told reporters on Saturday.
"It's the time for change," said Ardern.
The Prime Minister was traveling from Wellington to
Christchurch on Saturday alongside other politicians, including the opposition
leader. "As is the entire nation, we are all unified in grieving
together," she told reporters.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday
called the massacre the work of an "extremist right-wing, violent
terrorist."
The suspected gunman livestreamed video of the attack
and posted a lengthy manifesto online under the name of Brenton Tarrant. In the
manifesto, he identifies himself as a white man, born in Australia, and lists
the white nationalists who have inspired him.
Ardern urged the public not to share the
"distressing" 17-minute video.
The brazen nature of the broadcast, and the apparent
failure of tech companies to prevent its proliferation online, raised concerns.
In New Zealand, commentators also worried that the horror would sow deep
divisions in a society that has largely avoided the polarizations that have
spread elsewhere.
Suspect's family assisting police
The suspect, who is an Australian citizen, was living
in the southern city of Dunedin,about 225 miles from Christchurch, at the time
of the attack, Ardern said.
A police spokesperson in the Australian state of New
South Wales said Tarrant's family have been "assisting and
cooperating" with authorities.
Ardern said the suspect traveled around the world and
was in New Zealand sporadically. He had no criminal history in New Zealand or
Australia, and had not drawn the attention of the intelligence community for
extremist views.
Tarrant was one of three people arrested in connection
with the shootings. The other two remain in custody but their role in the
shootings remains unclear. None of them had been on any security watch lists
prior to the attack, officials said.
When asked about whether the same person carried both
shootings, Bush said officials were not aware of anything that would contradict
that suggestion.
A fourth person who was detained in the aftermath of
the attack was later determined to be an armed bystander who wanted to help
police.
Credit to: CNN's Sophia Saifi, Jomana Karadsheh,
Yazou Sun, Paul P. Murphy and Eric Cheung, and journalist Matthew McKew,
contributed to this report.
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