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Police shot and killed the 32-year-old assailant. He was convicted and jailed for about three years before he was released in July.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to strengthen anti-terrorism laws after a man with a knife known to the authorities stabbed and wounded 7 people in a supermarket.
“I promise that once Parliament is restored, we will complete this work-which means passing the law as soon as possible, no later than the end of this month,” Ardern said at a press conference on Saturday.
Police shot and killed the 32-year-old assailant. The Sri Lankan national was convicted and imprisoned for about three years before being released in July, shortly after he launched an assassination spree on Friday.
Ardern had earlier stated that the man was inspired by the armed group Islamic State (ISIS) and was constantly under surveillance, but could no longer be held in prison by law.
The Anti-Terrorism Legislation Act criminalizes planning and preparation that may lead to an attack, thereby closing the loopholes criticized by critics and allowing planners to go unpunished.
But Ardern said it is unfair to assume that stricter laws will have an impact in this situation.
“This is a very self-motivated person. He uses going to the supermarket as a shield to attack. This is a very difficult environment,” she said.
Ardern said the attacker attracted the attention of the police in 2016 because he supported a violent ideology inspired by ISIL.
When he entered the Countdown supermarket in Auckland’s New Lynn shopping mall, the police were following the man. They said they thought he had gone in to buy something, but he took a knife from the display rack and started to stab people.
Police said they shot him within a minute after the attack began.
Seek notoriety
Ardern said the man arrived in New Zealand on a student visa in 2011 and did not have any extreme views.
In 2016, after he expressed sympathy for attacks, violent war-related videos, and violent comments on Facebook, he caught the attention of the police.
In May 2017, he was arrested at Oakland Airport and the authorities believed he was heading to Syria. He was charged for being restricted from publishing, and a hunting knife was found in his home, but he was released on bail.
In August 2018, he was arrested again for buying a knife and imprisoned. Ardern said he was released into the community in July this year when the surveillance began.
Ardern heard a briefing on the case again in late July and late August, and officials including the police chief raised the possibility of speeding up the revision of anti-terrorism legislation.
Police were tracking the man when he entered the Countdown supermarket in Auckland’s New Lynn shopping mall [TVNZ via Reuters]Ardern said she wanted to explain why the assailant was not deported, but could not, because doing so would violate the court’s prohibition order, which also prevented her from identifying him, she said.
But she said she didn’t want to name him anyway.
She said: “Any terrorist, life or death, should not be shared with their name because of the shame they seek.”
Countdown, a New Zealand supermarket group, said on Saturday that it had removed knives and scissors from its shelves while considering whether to continue selling.
“We want all our teams to feel safe when they go to work,” Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s safety general manager, said in a media statement.
According to media reports, other supermarket chains have also removed sharp knives from their shelves.
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