New Zealand supermarket stabbing a terrorist attack says PM after extremist injures 6 shoppers

A “violent extremist” was shot and killed by New Zealand police after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in a “terrorist attack” at a supermarket in Auckland, said prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

Of the six wounded, three are critical, one is serious, and another is in a moderate condition, the St John ambulance service said in a statement to news agency Reuters.

“A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ms Ardern told a briefing.

The attacker was a Sri Lankan national who had been in New Zealand for 10 years and was a “person of interest” for about five years, she said.

The man, who Ms Ardern said was inspired by Isis, was killed within 60 seconds of him launching the attack. The person was, by law, not allowed to be kept in prison, Ms Ardern said.

A video of the attack was uploaded on social media, which showed terrified shoppers at the New Lynn supermarket. “There’s someone here with a knife ... he’s got a knife. Somebody got stabbed,” one shopper can be heard saying in the video.

Other videos showed panicked shoppers rushing out of the mall, looking for cover.

A guard told shoppers to leave the mall shortly before six shots rang out.

Witnesses told reporters outside the mall that they saw several people lying on the floor with stab wounds.

Auckland has been on strict lockdown as it battles an outbreak of the coronavirus. People are only allowed to leave their homes to buy groceries of medicine.

“It was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith,” Ms Ardern told the press. “He alone carries the responsibility for these acts,” she said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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