Stabbing in New Zealand supermarket was ISIS-inspired terrorist attack prime minister

A stabbing in a supermarket in Auckland, where several people were injured, was an act of terrorism, says the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The suspect was shot by police.

“This afternoon, around kl. 14:40, a violent extremist carried out a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders in the New Lynn Countdown [supermarket] in Auckland, ” Said Ardern at a press conference.

The suspect was a known threat to authorities and under constant surveillance, she added.

Ardern said the terrorist was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in the country in 2011 and became a person of national security interest from 2016. She described the attacker as an ISIS-inspired “lone wolf."

The PM confirmed that the terrorist injured six people, three of them seriously, at a knife stabbing inside a supermarket in New Lynn, a suburb of Auckland. The terrorist was shot and killed about 60 seconds later by the same police unit tasked with monitoring him, Ardern said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the terrorist had traveled to the supermarket from Glen Eden, another suburb of Auckland, as he had done in the past - all the while “Carefully monitored” of a surveillance team and a tactical team. He came into the store and got a knife there.

“When the riot started, two police tactics operators moved to his location and engaged him. When he handed them a knife, he was shot and killed. “ Coster explained. He said police intervened as quickly as possible and prevented further damage to customers.

The reality is that when you are monitoring someone 24/7, it is not possible to be immediately next to them all the time.

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