At least 49 people have died and roughly 50 are injured following two shootings in mosques in the New Zealand town of Christchurch today.
In what appears to have been a coordinated and planned attack, gunmen entered two mosques in the New Zealand city and began opening fire on worshippers, including many children.
At least one of the shooters streamed the event via their Facebook profile, broadcasting the shooting of several people, as well as their attempted escape.
NZ police have apprehended at least 4 suspects, one of which has already been charged with several murders.
In a manifesto uploaded to Twitter, the shooter praised multiple white supremacist advocates such as Richard Spencer as well as terrorist and neo-nazi mass murderer Anders Breivik.
The shooter also praised President Donald Trump as a “symbol of renewed white identity.”
the 17-minute live stream of the shooting has been taken off of several sites and media outlets throughout the world but shows what appears to be the attacker shooting several victims inside of the mosque before continuing their attack on the street.
The attacks were reportedly motivated by far-right racial politics on 4chan and 8chan’s /pol/ boards, which have been reported as a breeding ground for far-right ideologies and radicalization.
One of the shooters was an avid user of the site and posted a link to their stream of the attack shortly before carrying out the murders.
The shooter made several far-right gestures before and after the attack, including a Nazi salute and playing a song praising Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić, who was found guilty of genocide against Muslim populations during the Bosnian war.
New Zealand police have issued an emergency order to close all mosques until the situation is under control and stabilized.
Speaking to the press, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Arden stated that this was “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”
“They have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home. They are us.”
This is the deadliest mass killing in New Zealand since the Featherston prison camp riot in 1943 in which several Japanese prisoners of war were killed by the New Zealand military in an attempted riot.
Leaders around the world have issued statements in solidarity with New Zealand, including President Trump among other major nations.
Stick with Temple Update for any new information on the shootings as it becomes available.
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