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Extremist shot and killed after New Zealand supermarket stabbing attack
- The Sri Lankan national stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket in Auckland, before being killed within 60 seconds of beginning the attack
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the man was known to police, had been in New Zealand for 10 years and was inspired by Islamic State
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New Zealand police on Friday shot and killed a “violent extremist” known to the police, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket.
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The attacker, a Sri Lankan national who had been in New Zealand for 10 years, was inspired by the militant group Islamic State and was being “monitored constantly”, Ardern said.
“A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern told a briefing. “He obviously was a supporter of Isis ideology,” she said, referring to Islamic State.
The attacker, who was not identified, had been a “person of interest” for about five years, Ardern said, adding that he had been killed within 60 seconds of beginning his attack in the city of Auckland.
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Police following the man thought he had gone into the New Lynn supermarket to do some shopping but he pulled out a large knife and started “running around like a lunatic” stabbing people, shopper Michelle Miller told the Stuff online news outlet.
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