New Zealand police have shot dead an Islamic State-inspired attacker. He stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket in Auckland. The attack took place despite round-the-clock surveillance by undercover officers. of the six wounded three were in critical condition, and another in moderate conditions.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a statement said it was a terrorist attack. carried out by a known threat, who was under constant police surveillance. She further added that the man a Sri Lankan national had managed to carry out his “hateful” assault even though he was on a terror watchlist.
Ardern said, “What happened today was despicable. It was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity but an individual person who is gripped by an ideology that is not supported here by anyone in the community.:
The man, who arrived in New Zealand in 2011, entered a shopping mall in suburban Auckland. He seized a knife from a display before going on a stabbing spree. Six people were wounded, three critically injured, in the 60 seconds before surveillance officers opened fire. Terrified shoppers fled for the exits as a barrage of shots rang out.
The three critical patients have been taken to Auckland City Hospital. One person in a moderate condition is at Waitākere Hospital. Another in the moderate condition is at Middlemore Hospital.
At least 10 police vehicles had gathered around the mall’s entry. A police Eagle helicopter was also spotted in the area. Police have also cordoned off a mosque on Waikaukau Rd Glen Eden in connection to the incident.
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