Forty-nine people have been killed and four people are in custody after attackers opened fire during Friday prayers at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
READ MORE: Christchurch shootings: 49 dead after attacks at two New Zealand mosques
Here's what we know so far:
- At least 30 people were killed at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch, at least seven people died inside the suburban Linwood Masjid Mosque, and at least three others died outside the same mosque. In all, a total of 49 people were killed.
- Migrants and refugees appeared to be most affected by the shootings.
- At least 20 others have been seriously injured.
- Four people, three men and one woman, are in custody over the attacks.
- A man in his late twenties has been charged with murder.
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the national security threat level has been lifted from low to high, adding the shootings appeared to have been a well-planned "terrorist attack". She described it as "one of New Zealand's darkest days".
- Police have warned there may be more suspects.
- Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said one of those arrested was an Australian citizen and described the suspected attacker as an "extremist right-wing violent terrorist".
- A number of improvised explosive devices found on vehicles after the shootings have been defused by police.
- Officers first received reports of shots fired in central Christchurch at about 1.40pm local time (12.40am GMT).
- All schools in Christchurch were put on lockdown and mosques told to shut their doors.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here