Police and ambulance unit be a country extracurricular an Auckland supermarket, Friday, Sep. 3, 2021. New Zealand authorities accidental they changeable and killed a convulsive extremist aft helium entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured six shoppers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described Friday's incidental arsenic a panic attack. (Alex Burton/New Zealand Herald via AP)

Police and ambulance unit be a country extracurricular an Auckland supermarket, Friday, Sep. 3, 2021. New Zealand authorities accidental they changeable and killed a convulsive extremist aft helium entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured six shoppers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described Friday's incidental arsenic a panic attack. (Alex Burton/New Zealand Herald via AP) (New Zealand Herald)

WELLINGTON – New Zealand authorities said Friday they changeable and killed a convulsive extremist aft helium entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured six shoppers.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the incidental arsenic a panic attack. She said the antheral was a Sri Lankan nationalist who was inspired by the Islamic State group. She said helium was good known to the nation's information agencies and was being monitored astir the clock.

She said that by law, the antheral was not allowed to beryllium kept successful prison.

Ardern said that 3 of those who had been stabbed were earnestly injured.

“This was a convulsive attack. It was senseless,” Ardern said. “And I americium truthful atrocious that it happened.”

The onslaught unfolded astatine astir 2:40 p.m. astatine a Countdown supermarket successful New Zealand's largest city, Auckland.

Ardern said that due to the fact that the antheral was nether changeless monitoring, a constabulary surveillance squad and a peculiar tactics radical were capable to sprout and termination him wrong 60 seconds of the onslaught starting.

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Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said they had concerns astir the man's ideology and kept precise adjacent tabs connected him. Coster said they followed him from his location to the supermarket connected Friday.

“He entered the store, arsenic helium had done before. He obtained a weapon from wrong the store,” Coster said. “Surveillance teams were arsenic adjacent arsenic they perchance could beryllium to show his activity.”

Coster said that erstwhile the commotion started, 2 constabulary from the peculiar tactics radical rushed over. He said the antheral approached constabulary with the weapon and truthful they changeable and killed him.

One bystander video taken from wrong the supermarket records the dependable of 10 shots being fired successful accelerated succession.

Ardern said ineligible constraints prevented her from discussing everything that she wanted to astir the case, but she was hoping to person those constraints lifted soon.

Some shoppers successful the supermarket reportedly tried to assistance those who had been wounded with towels and diapers.

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“To everyone who was determination and who witnessed specified a horrific event, I can't ideate however they volition beryllium feeling successful the aftermath,” Ardern said. “But convey you for coming to the assistance of those who needed you erstwhile they needed you.”

Auckland is presently successful a strict lockdown arsenic it battles an outbreak of the coronavirus. Most businesses are unopen and radical are mostly allowed to permission their homes lone to bargain groceries, for aesculapian needs oregon to exercise.

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