'We just want to know if they are dead or alive,' Mohammed told the officer. On Saturday, outside one of the two mosques, 32-year-old Ash Mohammed pushed through police barricades in hopes of finding out what happened to his father and two brothers, whose cellphones rang unanswered. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record. Tarrant's relatives in the Australian town of Grafton, in New South Wales, contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said.

During the Saturday morning hearing, a man who was not in court was charged with using writings to incite hatred against a race or ethnicity, but it was not clear if his case was related to the mosque attacks. They gave no details about those taken into custody except to say that none had been on any watch list. Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. Police also defused explosive devices in a car. Several more people were killed in an attack on a second mosque in the city a short time later.Īt least 48 people were wounded, some critically. The gunman also livestreamed in graphic detail 17 minutes of his rampage at Al Noor Mosque, where, armed with at least two assault rifles and a shotgun, he sprayed worshippers with bullets over and over, killing at least 41 people. Tarrant, who police say carried out at least one of the shootings, posted a jumbled, 74-page manifesto on social media in which he identified himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white supremacist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims. She pronounced it 'one of New Zealand's darkest days.' 'It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,' Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees.

It was by far the deadliest shooting in modern New Zealand history. Two other armed suspects were taken into custody while police tried to determine what role, if any, they played in the cold-blooded attack that stunned New Zealand, a country so peaceful that police officers rarely carry guns.

The judge said 'it was reasonable to assume' more such charges would follow. Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared in court Saturday morning amid strict security and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge.

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