“This afternoon at approximately 2:40 p.m., a violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a news conference Friday afternoon. “This was a violent attack, it was senseless, and I am so sorry it happened.”
Ardern added that the man was a Sri Lankan national, a “supporter of ISIS ideology,” and a “known security threat.” He was under constant surveillance by multiple government agencies, and security personnel were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds from the start of the attack, she said.
The attacker obtained a knife within the store and used it to stab shoppers before police shot him, said New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, who described him as a lone actor. The man died at the scene.
Videos posted online showed panicked shoppers running out of the LynnMall Shopping Centre and looking for cover as the situation unfolded.
Six people have been injured, emergency crews said, with three in critical condition. Heavily armed…