New Zealand mourns: Vigils held, families await news of loved ones

: Category: Politics; Published: 16 March 2019

Families of those missing in the New Zealand mosque attacks waited near Christchurch police cordons for news on Saturday, as the bodies of the 50 victims are being formally identified.

The latest: At 9:30 am Sunday local time, New Zealand's Police Commissioner Mike Bush gave a press conference with updates on the Christchurch terror attack, during which he said only 1 person has been charged so far for the attacks, and that the other 2 people arrested — one of whom has been released — are not believed to have been involved in the mosque attacks. also said a list of victims is being completed and confirmed to share with families. Security will remain present surrounding mosques until there is no further credible threat. He described the assailant's weapon as a "modified ... category-A firearm."

Details: Early Sunday local time, the press secretary for the prime minister's office said in a statement to Axios:

"A generic email address for the Prime Minister was included in a bulk email sent by the terrorist just minutes before his attack began. The email contained the terrorist’s manifesto, but no details of the attacks or their location in New Zealand. The bulk email was sent predominately to a large number of news media outlets and also included an email address for the Leader of the Opposition, Parliaments Speaker and the Parliament Tour Desk. The staff member in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for checking that email address took immediate action and sent the email to Parliament Security marked Urgent, as per security protocols. It is not an email address that the Prime Minister personally checks. Because the email contained no details of the attack, its nature or location, and was received just minutes before the attack began, it unfortunately would not have been able to prevent what occurred."

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed late Saturday local time it received a copy of a manifesto outlining the attack less than 10 minutes before the event commenced. Bodies were still being removed into the night from the Al Noor mosque, where 41 people died during Friday prayers. NZ Police Commissioner Mike Bush said law enforcement had not seen any evidence that there was more than 1 gunman involved. There were 36 shooting victims in hospital, Canterbury District Health board said Saturday afternoon local time — 11 people were in critical condition, including a 1-year-old boy.

The big picture: Egypt confirmed 4 of its citizens were among the massacre victims, and Jordan said 3 Jordanian nationals died in the attacks. A 71-year-old man, originally from Afghanistan, heard saying in video of the attack "welcome brother," before being shot, and a Syrian refugee were also confirmed to have died.

Daoud Nabi, 71, was the first of the 49 #ChristChurch victims to be identified.
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