At least 49 people were killed and about 20 injured in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday.
The attack, which came around the time people were attending the mosques for Friday prayers in the nation’s third-largest city, was broadcast live on the internet.
A gunman, who identified himself as a 28-year-old Australian called Brenton Tarrant, live-streamed footage of his rampage to Facebook, filmed with a head-mounted camera. The footage showed him firing indiscriminately at men, women and children from close range inside the Al-Noor mosque.
The suspect appeared to have published a document before the attack outlining his intentions and in which he espoused far right and anti-immigrant ideology. He was charged with murder and will appear in court on Saturday morning, police confirmed.
Footage filmed by the gunman at the Al Noor mosque showed him driving up to the front door, before taking weapons from his car, entering the mosque and firing at those inside.
New Zealand Police said a number of firearms had been recovered from both mosques, and explosive devices were found in a car belonging to one of the suspects.
Police also called on the public not to share the “extremely distressing” footage online. Facebook said it had removed the gunman’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and was working to remove any copies of the footage.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, condemned the massacre as a terrorist attack and described it as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”
