Police: New Zealand gunman acted alone, but may have had support
Prime minister promises tough gun laws, wants Facebook to answer how 1.5 million copies of massacre video were uploaded
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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Monday the gunman who killed 50 people and wounded others at two Christchurch mosques acted alone but may have had support.
“We believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this,” Bush said at a news conference.
But he added that the support of other people hasn’t been ruled out and is “a very, very important part of our investigation.”
Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant was arrested moments after the shootings on Friday. He was charged with a single count of murder and a judge said Saturday he may face other charges.
There is no indication at this stage that anyone else was directly involved in the attack – we believe this horrific act was committed by one person.
— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) March 18, 2019
In Australia, police raided two homes in the towns of Sandy Beach and Lawrence in New South Wales state where Tarrant lived as part of their investigation into the New Zealand mosque shootings.
“The primary aim of the activity is to formally obtain material that may assist New Zealand Police in their ongoing investigation,” an Australian police statement said.
Questions over gun laws, intel
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said gun law reforms will be announced within 10 days. Cabinet ministers had made an in-principle decision to tighten gun ownership but details still need to be worked out.
Ardern also announced an inquiry into the country’s intelligence services.
Tarrant wasn’t detected before his well-planned attack on two mosques and there have been concerns intelligence agencies were overly focused on the Muslim community in detecting and preventing security risks.
The owner of Christchurch’s “Gun City” store said it sold four guns and ammunition to the alleged mosque shooter through a “police-verified online mail order process.”
David Tipple said in a statement that he has provided police with the purchase records and full details of the sales, which did not include military style semi-automatic weapons.
“We detected nothing extraordinary about this (gun) license holder,” Tipple said, adding he and staff are “dismayed and disgusted” by Friday’s shootings.
The store has been criticized for leaving out a roadside advertising billboard that shows a parent helping children with rifle target practice.
Taking down livestreams
Ardern said Sunday she would be looking for answers from Facebook and other social media firms about the attack was livestreamed on their platforms.
Saying there were “further questions to be answered” by the tech giants, Ardern said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg had been in contact and “acknowledged what has occurred here in New Zealand.”
Tarrant livestreamed his attack on Facebook and the company removed the video afterwards, but the stream, lasting 17 minutes, was shared repeatedly on YouTube and Twitter, and internet platforms were scrambling to remove videos being reposted of the gruesome scenes.
“We did as much as we could to remove, or seek to have removed, some of the footage that was being circulated in the aftermath of this terrorist attack,” Ardern said.
“But ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal.”
“I do think that there are further questions to be answered.”
In a statement on Sunday, Mia Garlick of Facebook New Zealand vowed to “work around the clock to remove violating content.”
“In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload,” the company said.
Ardern was joined by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in expressing doubts that current rules go far enough.
Morrison said that social media companies had “co-operated” since the attack.
“But I sadly have to say that the capacity to actually assist fully is very limited on the technology side.”
He said “assurances were given” that once such content was pulled down, a regime would make sure it did not go back up. “Clearly it hasn’t (happened).”
“So I think there are some very real discussions that have to be had about how these facilities and capabilities as they exist on social media, can continue to be offered.”
Families of the 50 people killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings are enduring an increasingly agonizing wait for the bodies of victims to be released as New Zealand reels from the unprecedented tragedy.
Three days after Friday’s attack, New Zealand’s deadliest shooting in modern history, relatives were anxiously waiting for word on when they can bury their loved ones. Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death.
Aya Al-Umari, whose older brother Hussien Al-Umari died at the Al Noor mosque, said “It’s very unsettling not knowing what’s going on, if you just let me know — is he still in the mosque? Is he in a fridge? Where is he?”
Authorities say they hope to release all the bodies by Wednesday.
The Times of Israel Community.