New Zealand police kill terrorist after he stabs 6 people

Wellington

New Zealand authorities said Friday they shot and killed aviolent extremist after he entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured sixshoppers.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the incident as aterror attack. She said the man was a Sri Lankan national who was inspired bythe Islamic State group. She said he was well known to the nation’s securityagencies and was being monitored around the clock.

She said that by law, the man was not allowed to be kept inprison.

Ardern said that three of those who had been stabbed wereseriously injured.

“This was a violent attack. It was senseless,” Ardern said.“And I am so sorry that it happened.”

The attack unfolded at about 2:40 p.m. at a Countdownsupermarket in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland.

Ardern said that because the man was under constantmonitoring, a police surveillance team and a special tactics group were able toshoot and kill him within 60 seconds of the attack starting.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said they had concernsabout the man’s ideology and kept very close tabs on him. Coster said theyfollowed him from his home to the supermarket on Friday.

“He entered the store, as he had done before. He obtained aknife from within the store,” Coster said. “Surveillance teams were as close asthey possibly could be to monitor his activity.”

Coster said that when the commotion started, two police fromthe special tactics group rushed over. He said the man approached police withthe knife and so they shot and killed him.

One bystander video taken from inside the supermarketrecords the sound of 10 shots being fired in rapid succession.

Ardern said legal constraints prevented her from discussingeverything that she wanted to about the case, but she was hoping to have thoseconstraints lifted soon. Some shoppers in the supermarket reportedly tried tohelp those who had been wounded with towels and diapers.

“To everyone who was there and who witnessed such a horrificevent, I can’t imagine how they will be feeling in the aftermath,” Ardern said.“But thank you for coming to the aid of those who needed you when they neededyou.”

Auckland is currently in a strict lockdown as it battles anoutbreak of the coronavirus. Most businesses are shut and people are generallyallowed to leave their homes only to buy groceries, for medical needs or toexercise.