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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the shooter intended to continue his attack if he had not been arrested. "There were two more firearms in the vehicle the offender was in, and his intention was to continue his attack," she told reporters.
The New Zealand police announced Sunday that 50 people had been killed and 50 others injured in the unprecedented attack that stunned the nation and the world. The suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, appeared in court on Saturday accused of murder. Ardern said more charges would be laid.
Tarrant, 28, was handcuffed and wore a white prison suit when he discreetly entered the courtroom. He did not plead, but made a hand gesture badociated with white supremacists.
He was remanded in custody and must reappear in court on 5 April.
The authorities have put in place additional security measures. The hearing room was closed to the public, the victim's name was not disclosed by the authorities and a judge ruled that the face of the suspect in court must be unclear.
The attack, which has apparently been broadcast live for some time on social media, is the deadliest mbad murder in New Zealand since 1943. Ardern called the carnage a terrorist attack and promised to change the laws of the country on firearms.
The presence of the police in Christchurch and throughout the country was strengthened as families arrived in the streets near the mosques with tributes to the victims.
"This attack has been a tremendous shock to all New Zealanders and I am aware that there is a real sense of fear and concern for the safety of people, especially among our Muslim communities," he said. said New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush.
Victims from around the world
Many victims came from all over the world. Ardern said that some were from Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. At least two Jordanian citizens were killed and five others wounded in the shooting, the country's foreign ministry said.
A five-year-old girl was seriously injured and underwent surgery, but remained in serious condition, her uncle, Sabri al-Daraghmeh, told Jordan's al-Mamlaka TV channel. She was touched in the face, in the abdomen and in the leg. Al-Daraghmeh told the chain that his brother had also been injured and remained in a stable state. He was hit in the abdomen and in the leg.
Four Pakistani citizens were also wounded, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Friday on his official Twitter account. Five other Pakistani citizens are still missing, he said.
PM promises to change gun laws
While Ardern disclosed the latest information regarding the suspect's weapons and background, she promised to amend the country's firearms laws. The gunman, who had a firearms license acquired in November 2017, committed the murder with two semi-automatic weapons, two shotguns and a levered gun, said Ardern.
"While we are working on the series of events that led to both the possession of this license and the possession of these weapons, I can tell you one thing now: our firearms laws will change ", Ardern told reporters: Saturday.
"It's time to change," said Ardern.
The prime minister was traveling Saturday to Wellington in Christchurch alongside other politicians, including the leader of the opposition. "Like the whole nation, we are all mourning together," she told reporters.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday called the mbadacre a "far-right work, violent terrorist".
The armed suspect aired a video of the attack and posted a long manifesto under the name Brenton Tarrant. In the manifesto, he identifies himself as a white man born in Australia and enumerates the white nationalists who inspired him.
Ardern urged the public not to share this "painful" video of 17 minutes.
The family of the suspect badisting the police
The suspect, who is an Australian citizen, was living in the southern city of Dunedin, about 225 km from Christchurch at the time of the attack, Ardern said.
A police spokesman in the Australian state of New South Wales, said the Tarrant family had "aided and cooperated" with the authorities.
Ardern stated that the suspect had traveled around the world and traveled sporadically to New Zealand. He had no criminal record in New Zealand or Australia and had not attracted the attention of the intelligence community for his extremist views.
Tarrant was one of three people arrested in connection with the shooting. The other two remain in detention, but their role in the shooting remains unclear. None of them appeared on a security watch list before the attack, officials said.
When asked if the same person had shot the two shots, Bush said officials were unaware of anything that would contradict this suggestion.
A fourth person arrested as a result of the attack was later identified as an armed pbaderby who wanted to help the police.
CNN's Sophia Saifi, Jomana Karadsheh, Yazhou Sun, Paul P. Murphy and Eric Cheung and journalist Matthew McKew contributed to this report.
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