New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Friday that a "terrorist" stabbed six people in a supermarket in Auckland before being shot dead by police, in an attack apparently inspired by ISIS. She stated, according to AFP, "What happened today is indescribable; it was an act of hate," clarifying that the attacker was a Sri Lankan citizen who arrived in New Zealand in 2011. She continued, "His ideas and ideology are inspired by the terrorist organization, but the operation was not instigated by the organization; initial information suggests he was a lone wolf."
Furthermore, she emphasized that what occurred today was a hate crime, saying, "What happened is disgusting and abhorrent; it has nothing to do with religion, culture, or race, but rather is the act of an individual governed by an ideology that is not supported by anyone or any community in our country." Local media circulated video clips from inside the supermarket, showing several civilians and police officers, while gunshots could be heard.
The police reported that a man entered the supermarket in New Lynn and injured multiple people, but security pursued him and shot him, resulting in his death on the spot. It is worth noting that New Zealand experienced one of the worst attacks in its history in 2019, when an Australian man killed 51 Muslim worshippers by randomly shooting in two different mosques in Christchurch, in a crime that shocked both the country and the world.
