Officers who apprehended Christchurch shooter believed he had bombs in his vehicle: Christchurch terror attack inquest

Thousands of flowers and messages of support were left in tribute to the Christchurch mosque terror attack victims. Photo / Alan Gibson

By Danielle Clent of RNZ

The officers who apprehended a terrorist after he attacked two mosques in Christchurch on March 15 2019 believed he had bombs in his vehicle.

The inquest into the attacks at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre - which left 51 worshippers dead - today heard a senior police officer read out a transcript from the police radio of when the terrorist was arrested.

Senior Sergeant Roy Appley was the incident controller inside the Southern Communications Centre on the day of the attack.

Reading a transcript to the Coroners Court, Appley said one of the arresting officers transmitted over the radio at 2:02pm: “We’ve got one offender”.

“We’ve got bombs in the car, he’s armed up, we’ve got him out of the car. We crashed into him … like I said, looks like we’ve got bombs in the back. I don’t know what’s going on.”

A later broadcast over the radio from one of the arresting officers said the terrorist told them he was one of 10 shooters in Canterbury that day, all with military or police training.

He also told the officers his intention was to target five mosques in Christchurch.

An inquest into the March 15 Terror attack is into its second day in the Christchurch District Court. Pictured: Deputy Chief Coroner Brigitte Windley 25 October 2023 New Zealand Herald Photograph by George Heard

Appley told the court once police staff had found the terrorist’s name by looking up his vehicle, he was searched on the dark web.

This was to find further information on his identity and any relevant information relating to the events unfolding, he said.

He did not know who had given the staff member instructions search the dark web, and he did not know what information was obtained.

Communication between police and St John has been questioned extensively during the inquest.

Appley said he relied on staff inside the communication centre on the day acting as runners between police and St John to relay information.

He said he did not converse with anyone from St John himself, but confirmed with staff members that information was being passed on, and the agency had been told to send ambulances to Al Noor Mosque at 2pm.

Paramedics did not enter the mosque until 15 minutes later.

Appley said he ticked off this task in his notebook so he could recall this had happened.

The inquest will examine the following 10 issues over six weeks:

• events of 15 March 2019 from the commencement of the attack until the terrorist’s formal interview by police
• response times and entry processes of police and ambulance officers at each mosque
• triage and medical response at each mosque
• the steps that were taken to apprehend the offender
• the role of, and processes undertaken by, Christchurch Hospital in responding to the attack
• coordination between emergency services and first responders
• whether the terrorist had any direct assistance from any other person on March 15 2019
• if raised by immediate family, and to the extent it can be ascertained, the final movements and time of death for each of the deceased
• the cause of death for each of the victims and whether any deaths could have been avoided
• whether Al Noor Mosque’s emergency exit door in the southeast corner of the main prayer room failed to function during the attack and, if so, why?

The inquest continues.