Earlier, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had said forty people had been killed while 20 were hurt in the deadly attack and called it one of the country’s "darkest days”.
She identified that 4 people, one of whom is an Australian , had been detained but said that none of them was on a terror watch list . The prime minister, however, said that she could not "give specifics about who was directly involved at each mosque”.
She also recommended people not to share the video of the attack as well as the manifesto of the alleged shooter and included that websites, where pictures and videos had been shared, were focusing on taking them down.
Ardern confirmed that one person had been taken under custody. She alluded to anti-immigrant sentiment as the possible intention, announcing that while many people troubled by the shootings may be migrants or refugees “they have chosen to make New Zealand their home , and it is their home. They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not”.
Police advised people to stay indoors and not to visit mosques "anywhere in New Zealand” as they attempted to determine whether more than one gunman was involved.
The city council given a helpline for parents searching for kids attending a mass climate change rally nearby.
