Christchurch mosque shootings
2019 terrorist attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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On 15 March 2019, mass shootings occurred in consecutive terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.[2][7] They were committed by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, firstly at the Al Noor Mosque in the suburb of Riccarton at 1:40 pm and later at the Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 pm.[8][9][10] Fifty-one people were killed and forty others were injured.[11][12]
| Christchurch mosque shootings | |
|---|---|
| Part of Terrorism in New Zealand | |
The Al Noor Mosque in August 2019 | |
  Al Noor Mosque Linwood Islamic Centre   Christchurch | |
| Location | Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | |
| Date | 15 March 2019 (4 years ago) c. 1:40 – 1:59 pm (NZDT; UTC+13) |
| Target | Muslim worshippers |
Attack type | Mass shooting,[1] terrorist attack,[2] shooting spree, mass murder, right-wing terrorism, hate crime |
| Weapons |
|
| Deaths | 51[3] |
| Injured | 40 |
| Perpetrator | Brenton Harrison Tarrant |
| Motive | |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty to all charges |
| Convictions | 51 counts of murder 40 counts of attempted murder One count of committing a terrorist act |
| Sentence | Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
The gunman, 28-year-old Brenton Harrison Tarrant from Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, was arrested after his vehicle was rammed by a police unit as he was driving to a third mosque in Ashburton. He was described in media reports as a white supremacist.[13][14] He had live-streamed the first shooting on Facebook[15] and had published an online manifesto before the attack. The video and manifesto were later banned in New Zealand and Australia.[16] On 26 March 2020, he pleaded guilty[17][18] to 51 murders, 40 attempted murders, and engaging in a terrorist act,[19][20] and in August was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole – the first such sentence in New Zealand.[21][22][23]
The attack was linked to an increase in white supremacy and alt-right extremism globally[24][25] observed since about 2015.[26][27] Politicians and world leaders condemned it,[28] and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as "one of New Zealand's darkest days".[29] The government established a royal commission into its security agencies in the wake of the shootings, which were the deadliest in modern New Zealand history and the worst ever committed by an Australian national.[30][31][32] The commission submitted its report to the government on 26 November 2020,[33] the details of which were made public on 7 December.[34]