Christchurch shootings

Al Noor Mosque in August 2019, 6 months after the attacks

The **Christchurch shootings** were 2 consecutive terrorist shootings that occurred on 15 March, 2019 at 2 mosques, Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, both in Christchurch, New Zealand in which, a lone gunman killed 51 people and injured 40 others using multiple different guns whilst playing music and livestreaming the attacks on Facebook.

## Attacks

### Al Noor Mosque shooting

At **approximately 1:50 p.m.**, the gunman arrived at Al Noor Mosque whilst playing Karadžić, Lead Your Serbs, a Serbian nationalist song, on a portable bluetooth speaker. As the gunman approached the mosque, a worshipper greeted him with "Hello, brother" before being shot with a Mossberg 930 semiautomatic shotgun nine times towards the front entrance from outside, killing the worshipper. He then dropped the shotgun and opened fire on people inside with an AR-15–style rifle killing 49 people. Naeem Rashid, a Pakistani worshipper, charged at the gunman but was shot and killed. Rashid was awarded the Nishan-e-Shujaat and the New Zealand Cross, the highest award of bravery in Pakistan and New Zealand respectively.

### Linwood Islamic Centre shooting

After leaving Al Noor Mosque, the gunman then arrived at Linwood Islamic Centre at **approximately 2:02 p.m.**. According to a witness, the gunman was initially unable to find the mosque's main door, instead shooting people outside and through a window, killing four and alerting those inside.

A worshipper named Abdul Aziz Wahabzada ran outside and, as the gunman was retrieving another gun from his car, Aziz threw a payment terminal at him. The gunman fired back at Aziz, who picked up an empty shotgun the gunman had dropped. He took cover among nearby cars, and attempted to draw the gunman's attention by shouting, "I'm here!". Regardless, The gunman entered the mosque, where he shot and killed three people. When the Gunman returned to his car, Aziz threw the shotgun at it. The gunman drove away at **2:05 p.m.**. Aziz was awarded the New Zealand Cross, New Zealand's highest award for bravery.

## Perpetrator

### Criminal penalty

Life without parole

**Brenton Harrison Tarrant** (born October 22, 1990) is an Australian man who was identified as the perpetrator of the shootings. He grew up in Grafton, New South Wales and worked as a personal fitness trainer.

Tarrant claims to be the author of a 74-page manifesto titled "The Great Replacement". In the manifesto, several anti-immigrant sentiments are expressed, including hate speech against migrants, white supremacist rhetoric, and calls for all non-European immigrants in Europe whom he claimed to be "invading his land" to be removed.

## See also

* July 22 attacks - 2 consecutive terrorist attacks targeting leftists, that influenced the Christchurch shootings
* Quecbec City shooting - Shooting at a mosque that influenced the Christchurch shootings
* Trollhattän stabbing - Stabbing at high school targeting non-white skinned people that influenced the Christchurch shootings
* Charleston shooting - Shooting at a church, targeting black people, that influenced the Christchurch shootings
* Buffalo shooting - Shooting at supermarket targeting black people that was inspired by the Christchurch shootings

## External links

* Christchurch mosque shootings at English Wikipedia

## References

1. ↑ Police with the latest information on the mosque shootings.
2. ↑ Christchurch shootings: Social media races to stop attack footage.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Christchurch mosque terror attack sentencing: Gunman Brenton Tarrant planned to attack three mosques.
4. ↑ The terrorist attack.
5. ↑ Dodging bullets, a father of 4 confronted the New Zealand shooter and saved lives.
6. ↑ In New Zealand, a journey around the world and into darkness.
7. ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-mosque-killer-white-supremacy-20190315-story.html