Terrorist attack in New Zealand .. and the police kill the perpetrator and determine his nationality
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that a terrorist stabbed six people in a supermarket in Auckland on Friday before being shot by police just 60 seconds after the start of the attack, which she said was inspired by the Islamic State group.
Ardern said the attacker, a Sri Lankan who arrived in New Zealand in 2011 and was on a terrorism list, entered a shopping center in Auckland, grabbed a knife and stabbed people with it.
She stated that six people were wounded, three of them in critical condition, before the police, who were watching him, opened fire on him within sixty seconds of the attack.
"What happened today is indescribable, it was an act of hate," she said, noting that the attack did not represent any religion or any group.
Asked about the attacker's motives, she explained that the attack stemmed from "a violent ideology and was inspired by the Islamic State."
Ardern said she could not reveal more details about the attacker, who has been under surveillance since 2016, due to a court ruling prohibiting disclosure of specific information about him.
Police Chief Andrew Koster said authorities were confident the attacker acted alone, denying there was a danger to the public.
New Zealand police said on Friday they had shot dead a man who had stabbed and wounded at least five people in an Auckland shopping mall.
"The police located the man and shot him, killing him on the spot," she added.
Online videos showed shoppers in a panic and running out of the mall.
New Zealand has been on high alert since a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.
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