Members of the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch targeted by the 2019 mass shootings have started an online fundraiser for the Auckland attack. Photo / George Heard
Members of the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch targeted by the 2019 mass shootings have started an online fundraiser for the Auckland attack. Photo / George Heard
Muslims from a Christchurch mosque where 51 people were murdered two years ago have started a fundraising page for victims of today's terror attack.
The Muslim Association of Canterbury said Muslims across New Zealand are "broken hearted" by the attack by an Isis supporter on shoppers at an Auckland supermarket.
The attacker was fatally shot by police after picking up a knife from the shelves of a Countdown supermarket in New Lynn and stabbing six shoppers.
Three of those attacked are in hospital critically injured.
Police and the ambulance at New Lynn Countdown after the Friday afternoon terrorist atttack in which six people were stabbed. New Zealand Herald photograph / Alex Burton
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was a terrorist attack carried out by a Isis-inspired man, who police were keeping under constant surveillance.
Two years ago, Muslims were murdered at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch during Friday prayer in a hate crime committed by a gunman.
Members of that mosque said they stand with victims of today's "horrible incident" and have started a GoFundMe page to raise money for them.
"We feel strongly the pain of terrorism and there are no words that can convey our condemnation of such a horrible act," the Muslim Association of Canterbury said on the GoFundMe page.
"All terrorists are the same regardless of their ideology whether it is white supremacists or ISIS, they stand for hate and we all stand for peace and love."
"This terrorist is not from us and we are one against terror."
Ardern also emphasised the "despicable" and "hateful" crime was carried out by one person.
"Not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity but an individual person who is gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone in the community," Ardern said.
She said she was "so sorry" the attack had happened.
The injured were attacked in the New Lynn Mall Countdown before their assailant was fatally gunned down by police, who had been following him as part of "constant surveillance".
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the attack and shooting unfolded in about 60 seconds.
Members of the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch targeted by the 2019 mass shootings have started an online fundraiser for the Auckland attack. Photo / George Heard
The three critical patients, and another in a serious condition, have been taken to Auckland City Hospital. One person in a moderate condition is at Waitākere Hospital, and another in a moderate condition is at Middlemore Hospital.
The Muslim Association of Canterbury said its members prayed for the recovery of the injured, "and for the safety of our country".
"Please donate to help those victims of the attack. It is our moral obligation to stand with our fellow New Zealanders, who stood by us in our time in need," it said.
An outpouring of grief followed the Christchurch mosque shootings on March 15, 2019, in which another nine people were also murdered at the city's Linwood Mosque, as Kiwis across the nation rallied in support of victims and donated millions of dollars.
