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The Sri Lankan national stabbed at least six people in a supermarket in Auckland.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that New Zealand police shot and killed a “violent extremist” known to the police on Friday after stabbing and wounding at least 6 people in a supermarket. .
Ardern said the attacker was a Sri Lankan national who had lived in New Zealand for 10 years and was inspired by the Islamic State militant group and was “constantly under surveillance”.
“A violent extremist carried out a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern said at a briefing.
“He is clearly a supporter of the Islamic State ideology,” she said, referring to the Islamic State.
Ardern said the attacker was unidentified and he had been an “interested person” for about five years, adding that he was killed within 60 seconds of the start of the attack in Oakland.
The police following the man thought he was going shopping at the New Lynn supermarket, but he took out a big knife described by an eyewitness and started to stab people.
“We are doing everything possible to monitor him. The fact that we were able to intervene so quickly in about 60 seconds shows that we are watching him closely,” Police Chief Andrew Cost said at the briefing.
Coster said the attacker was acting alone and the police believed that it would not pose a further threat to the public.
Since the emergence of white supremacists, New Zealand has been vigilant against attacks Gunmen killed 51 people in two mosques March 15, 2019 in Christchurch.
When asked if Friday’s attack could be retaliation for the 2019 mosque shooting, Ardern said that it is not yet clear. She said people who are responsible for violence, not beliefs.
“This is hateful, this is wrong. This is carried out by individuals, not by faith,” Ardern said. “He is solely responsible for these actions.”
‘Someone was stabbed’
A video posted on social media showed that a few seconds after the attacker attacked, there were shoppers in the supermarket.
“There is someone here with a knife…he has a knife,” a woman can be heard saying. “Someone was stabbed.”
Shortly before about six gunshots, a guard asked people to leave the mall.
Ardern said that until Friday, the man had not committed any crimes that would have led to his arrest and detention.
“If we have reached the threshold for him to go to jail, he will go to jail,” she said.
When asked whether she was disappointed when she heard the news of the attack because the authorities knew about the man, she said: “Yes, because I know we have been doing our best…so I was completely destroyed NS.”
The St. John’s Ambulance Service stated that of the six injured, three were in critical condition, one was in serious condition and the other was in moderate condition.
Witnesses told reporters outside the mall that they saw several people lying on the ground with stab wounds. Others said they heard gunshots when they ran out of the supermarket.
An earlier video posted online showed panicked shoppers running out of the mall looking for cover
In May of this year, four people were stabbed in a supermarket in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand.
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