Police shoot dead New Zealand mall attacker

New Zealand police killed a man who was said to have injured several others during an attack at an Auckland mall in the early afternoon on Friday.

A law enforcement statement said: "Police can confirm that a man has entered a New Lynn supermarket and injured multiple people."

The police confirmed the main suspect had been shot and killed. Emergency services said six people had been injured — three critically and one seriously. The other two patients were in moderate condition, according to the St. John ambulance service.

Police deployed a helicopter and at least 10 vehicles at the mall, as well as closing off several nearby roads, local newspaper NZ Herald reported.

Attacker was known to police

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the attacker was a Sri Lankan national and referred to him as a violent extremist known to the police and inspired by the so-called "Islamic State" terror group.

"What happened today was despicable, it was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith ... gripped by ideology not supported by anyone here," she added.

Ardern said the perpetrator had been known to authorities and had been a person of interest for around five years, but could not go into further details for legal reasons.

"We were doing absolutely everything possible to monitor him and indeed the fact that we were able to intervene so quickly, in roughly 60 seconds, shows just how closely we were watching him," Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said.

Both Coster and Ardern stressed that the man had acted alone.

Initial reports said the attacker had wielded a knife, and had not mentioned any other weapons. Shoppers could be heard warning each other of "someone with a knife" in a video shared on social media.

What did the authorities know about the attacker?

DW spoke to local journalist Pete McKenzie about the attack and what we know so far.

"What we do know, this lone wolf, a supporter of the terror group ISIS, picked up a knife off the rack at a supermarket in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland. And in the space of just under a minute, managed to stab six people, inflicting severe wounds to their neck and their chest […] Two are undergoing serious surgery," McKenzie said.

The man came to New Zealand from Sri Lanka and was designated a person of interest by several agencies. "The reason for that was because it became clear he had purchased twice large hunting knives and possessed significant materials of ISIS propaganda. He was sentenced on charges of possessing propaganda in New Zealand's high court earlier this year," the Wellington-based journalist explained.

The government failed to charge him under the Terrorism Suppression Act, "as a result he was put under intensive 24/7 surveillance by members of the special tactic group" as well as by the police.

New Zealand in lockdown

New Zealand is currently in a strict lockdown amid one of the country's worst COVID-19 outbreaks so far. Most businesses are closed and people are only allowed out for essential activities such as buying groceries or exercise.

The supermarket's general manager of safety Kiri Hannifin said the store was "devastated by what's taken place."

"Once again, our hearts are heavy knowing what our team and customers have witnessed and been through. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and their families, and we will be supporting all of our Lynnmall team."

A similar supermarket attack occurred in the South Island city of Dunedin in May when a knife-wielding attacker injured four people.

New Zealand's worst terror attack was the Christchurch mosques shootings in March 2019, when a white supremacist gunman murdered 51 Muslim worshippers and severely wounded another 40.

ab, ar/sms (Reuters, AFP, dpa)