The story of the man who diverted the attention of the attacker and avoided other deaths in New Zealand

As an armed man advanced towards the mosque, killing those who were hindering him, Abdul Aziz did not hide. Instead, he launched the first thing he could find, a machine for credit card payments. He ran out and shouted "Go here!"

Aziz has been described as a hero who helped prevent other deaths during Friday prayers at Christchurch's Linwood Mosque, after pulling the shooter into a cat-and-mouse chase, before run away at full speed. .

However, Aziz, 48, whose four sons and dozens of people remained at the mosque while clashing with the shooter, does not believe that he is a hero. He says that's what anybody would have done.

Deadly victims

The armed attacker killed 49 people after attacking two mosques during the most deadly shootout in New Zealand's modern history.

It is believed that the gunman killed 41 people at Al Noor Mosque before crossing the city for about 5 kilometers and attacking the Linwood mosque, where he killed seven others. One person died later in the hospital.

White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 28, was charged with the murder and a judge said Saturday that it was reasonable to badume that it would be followed by other charges.

History of horror

Alabi, the acting Imam of Linwood Mosque, said the death toll would have been much higher in his mosque without Aziz.

Alabi said he heard a voice outside the mosque around 1:55 pm, when he stopped the prayer he was directing and peeked out the window. He saw a man wearing black military-style clothing and a helmet, brandishing a large rifle, and badumed that he was a policeman. Then he saw two corpses and heard the banger screaming vulgarities.

"I realized that it was something different – he's a murderer," he said.

He shouted to the congregation of more than 80 people to bend over. They doubted There was a shot, a broken window and a fallen corpse, and people began to realize that everything was real.

"Then this brother came in. It was after him, and he managed to control it, and that's how we fled," said Alabi, referring to Aziz. "Otherwise, if he could have entered the mosque, he would probably have killed us all."

Aziz said that while he was running outside shouting, he had been trying to distract the attacker. He said that the shooter ran to his car to take another weapon, and Aziz threw him the credit card machine.

The shooter returned by shooting. Aziz said that he was running while searching the cars parked in front of the entrance, which prevented the attacker from shooting him accurately. Then, Aziz saw a weapon that the suspect had left and took, aimed and pulled the trigger. It was empty.

He added that the shooter returned to the car for the second time, probably to take another weapon.

"He got in his car and I just took the gun and throw it at his window like an arrow and break the window," he said.

The windshield shattered: "That's why he got scared."