Christchurch mosque shootings of 2019 were the deadliest mass shooting incident in the history of New Zealand. On the afternoon of March 15, 2019, a gunman attacked Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island. The gunman killed 51 people and injured many others before he was captured by police.
The attack began during Friday prayers. At about 1:40 P.M., a gunman entered the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch and began firing. Minutes later, he returned to his car, retrieved a second weapon, and re-entered the mosque to continue his rampage. Less than six minutes after he first entered the mosque, the shooter fled. He arrived at a second mosque, the Linwood Islamic Centre, at about 1:55 P.M. Unable to find a door quickly, the attacker began shooting at the windows. A worshiper chased the gunman back to his car, and he again fled. Police captured the shooter, a 28-year-old Australian man, not long after.
The gunman had been inspired by hateful and racist rhetoric (influential speech). He had decorated his weapons with white supremacist slogans. White supremacists believe that white people are superior to those of other races. The gunman planned his attack for widespread exposure on social media. Shortly before the attack began, the shooter posted a lengthy manifesto (declaration) on several websites. He streamed live video of the attack over the internet using a head-mounted camera. Both the manifesto and the video quickly circulated across the internet, particularly on such sites as Facebook, Twitter (now called X), and YouTube. The event raised questions about whether or not such sites were taking adequate measures to stop the spread of white supremacist material and other extreme content.
Following the attack, the government of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern worked quickly to draft a gun control bill. The bill overwhelmingly passed through Parliament and became law on April 12. It banned the ownership of most automatic and semiautomatic weapons and established a buyback program, under which owners of now-outlawed weapons could turn them in for compensation.
Ardern was widely praised for the compassion she displayed in the aftermath of the attacks. She visited the survivors and expressed public disapproval of the gunman and his hateful ideals. Ardern also vowed never to speak the gunman’s name in order to deny him public recognition.
At first, the gunman pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him, and a trial date in 2020 was set. In March 2020, before the trial date, he changed his plea to guilty of all charges. He was convicted of 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and 1 charge of terrorism. The sentencing hearing was delayed due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, the gunman was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, the maximum penalty under New Zealand law.
