New Zealand attack: man stabbed six people | The attacker was arrested for links to the Islamic State

ISIS-linked man stabbed six people in an Auckland supermarket, New Zealand, and after was shot by the local police. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted the government had information on the aggressor because long ago had been detained as a terrorist suspect then he was released without custody: “We didn’t apply the law like we should have”.

The incident occurred in the early hours of today when the assailant, whose name and age have not been disclosed by court ban, He walked into a mall, took one of the knives from a counter and started nailing it to several customers.

Local police reported that the six injured are in serious condition and that the aggressor was a Sri Lankan citizen who came to New Zealand in 2011.

An attacker with a history of terrorism

The man was shot in minutes that the police were aware of what was going on in the store. It was then that he saw several shoppers flee the supermarket in terror. The images captured by witnesses show the moment when the police rushed to the scene of the attack before firing the shots.

Prime Minister Ardern said he was “devastated”. Not only because of the wounded but because this man was on an anti-terrorism list and was under constant police surveillance.

“What happened today was an act of hatred, outrageous and contemptible,” he said at a press conference in which he felt the act was the product of “a violent ideology inspired by the Islamic State group”.

The president said she could not reveal much about the assailant given an earlier court ruling banned the release of information, but clarified that he was detained and released because there was no legal reason to keep him in detention.

The mea culpa of the New Zealand government

“The fact that he was free among the population shows that we did not apply the law as we should have“recognized the head of government.

He then assured that all aspects of the incident will be investigated and will avoid revealing how many terrorism suspects are under surveillance in New Zealand. He just said that “There are very few people who fall into this category”.

For its part, Police Chief Andrew Coster said authorities were confident the man acted alone and that for this reason there are no more threats to society.

He acknowledged that there were doubts about how an attack could be carried out practically in the presence of the officers, but defended his work. “I am convinced, on the basis of the information at my disposal, that the personnel involved not only did what is expected in such a situation, but also showed great courage,” he said and he apologized: “The reality is that when someone is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is not possible to be by their side all the time”.