– What happened today was disgusting, it was hateful, it was wrong, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She says the man who attacked was an IS-inspired Sri Lankan citizen who came to New Zealand in 2011.
The suspected perpetrator was shot and killed by police who were monitoring him. According to Ardern, the man knew the security services of the man and monitored him continuously. She added that there was no legal basis for keeping him detained.
Critical
– The police have found the man, and he has been shot. He died on the spot, it is said in a statement from the police. They confirm that a man entered a grocery store in a shopping center in Auckland and injured several people on Friday.
The condition is critical for three of the injured, while another person is described as seriously injured, according to the emergency services. Video footage shows people running out of the store in a panic. On the recordings, you can hear people shouting that there is “someone with a knife in there”, before you hear the sound of police shots.
Attack in May
Supermarket manager Kiri Hannifin says he is devastated by what has happened.
– Once again, the heart is weighed down by the knowledge of what our employees and customers have experienced and witnessed. Our thoughts go to those who are injured and their families, and we want to support all the employees in the store, he says.
In May, five people were stabbed in another store in the same chain on Sørøya.
There are strict coronary restrictions in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, and grocery stores are among the few that are still allowed to stay open.
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