On Friday afternoon, a self-described racist armed with automatic weapons and a bodycam drove to two mosques and killed 49 people, in New Zealand’s deadliest mass shooting.
The mass shooting, which took place in Christchurch, was described by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern “one of the darkest days” in the country’s history.
Named by local media reports as 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, the alleged shooter posted a “manifesto” online, as well as photos of his weapons which were scrawled with white supremacist slogans and references to other atrocities.
He has been arrested and charged with murder, and will appear in court on Saturday.
As details of the atrocity continue to emerge, here’s what we know about the alleged shooter so far.
Before the shooting
On Wednesday, a Twitter account with the handle @BrentonTarrant posted pictures of an assault rifle and multiple magazines, scrawled with slogans and messages connected to white nationalism.
Shortly before the attack began on Friday, a post on the discussion site 8chan, known as a platform that hosts hate speech, said the author was going to “carry out an attack against the invaders”, and included links to a Facebook live stream, in which the shooting appeared, and a ‘manifesto’.
An archive of a Facebook page thought to belong to Tarrant contained dozens of posts in the last week about multiculturalism in Europe, with several referring directly to the UK.
Among them were YouTube recordings of speeches by Sir Oswald.
The shooter
In the video livestreamed on Facebook on Friday, the man who claimed responsibility for the shooting said he came to New Zealand to plan and train for the attack.
He said he was not a member of any organisation, but had donated to and interacted with many white nationalist groups. Although two other men and a woman have been detained in connection with the attack, he said he had acted alone and no group ordered the attack.
He said the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Masjid mosques in Christchurch would be the targets, as would a third mosque if he could make it there, the Press Association reports.
He said he chose New Zealand because of its location, to show that even the most remote parts of the world were not free of “mass immigration”.
The livestream video
The online footage, which appeared to have been captured on a camera strapped to a gunman’s head, showed him driving as music played in his vehicle. After parking, he took two guns and walked a short distance to the Masjid Al Noor mosque and opened fire.
The gunman spent more than two minutes inside the mosque, spraying terrified worshippers with bullets repeatedly.
He then walks outside to the street, where he shoots at people on the pavement. Screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle.
At one point he says: “There wasn’t even time to aim, there was (sic) so many targets.”
The gunman then walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground.
After walking back outside and shooting a woman, he gets back in his car, where the song Fire by English rock band The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown can be heard blasting from the speakers.
The singer bellows “I am the god of hellfire!” and the gunman drives away. The video then cuts out.
The man in the video also encouraged viewers to “subscribe to PewDiePie”, a controversial YouTube star who has since tweeted to distance himself from the attacks.
What witnesses saw
One man who said he was at the Masjid Al Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest.
“He had a big gun ... he came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,” said Ahmad Al-Mahmoud told Reuters.
Mark Nichols told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that he heard about five gunshots and that a Friday prayer-goer returned fire with a rifle or shotgun.
He said he saw two injured people being carried out on stretchers past his automotive shop and that both people appeared to be alive.
Another witness, Len Peneha, said he saw a man dressed in black enter the mosque and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running from the mosque in terror.
Peneha, who lives next door to the mosque, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway, and fled. He said he then went into the mosque to try to help.
“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”
He said the gunman was white and was wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top, giving him a military-type appearance.
What the ‘manifesto’ says
The manifesto cited “white genocide”, a term typically used by racist groups to refer to immigration and the growth of minority populations, as his motivation.
A Q&A section reads: “Were/are you a racist?”
“Yes, by definition, as I believe racial differences exist between peoples and they have a great impact on the way we shape our societies.”
Another asks: “Who are you?” The answer says: “Just a (sic) ordinary White man, 28 years old. Born in Australia to a working class, low income family.”
“My parents are of Scottish, Irish and English stock. I had a regular childhood, without any great issues. I had little interest in education during my schooling, barely achieving a passing grade.”
He adds: “I am just a regular White man, from a regular family. Who decided to take a stand to ensure a future for my people.”
He describes himself as “a private and mostly introverted person” and admits he is racist, adding that he is an “Eco-fascist by nature”.
Part of the manifesto cites “Darren Osbourne” – an apparent reference to Darren Osborne who drove a van into a crowd of worshippers leaving Finsbury Mosque in June 2017.
Listing other perpetrators of massacres, it reads: “I support many of those that take a stand against ethnic and cultural genocide. Luca Traini, Anders Breivik, Dylan Roof, Anton Lundin Pettersson, Darren Osbourne etc.”
Luca Traini, is a far-right extremist suspected of shooting six Africans in Italy in February 2018. The magazines also referenced multiple battles in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated.
So far no further details have emerged but police were searching a property in the south-east of the country following the shooting, and had evacuated people in neighbouring homes.
In a statement on Twitter they said: “Police are currently in attendance at a property on Somerville Street, Dunedin. This is a location of interest in relation to the serious firearms incident in Christchurch today. Evacuations of properties in the immediate area have taken place as a precaution.”