NewZealand PM calls stabbing 'terrorist attack', suspect shot dead

In New Zealand, police on Friday shot dead an attacker after he injured six people in a supermarket knife rampage. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "gutted" the man, a Sri Lankan national, had managed to carry out his "hateful" assault even though he was on a terror watchlist. She said the man, who arrived in New Zealand in 2011, entered a shopping mall in suburban Auckland, seized a knife from a display before going on a stabbing spree. Six people were wounded, three critically, in the 60 seconds before surveillance officers opened fire. "The attack at New Lynn Countdown was a terrorist attack carried out by a violent extremist," Ardern said. "He was supporter of IS-ideology. He was known to multiple agencies. I was personally aware of him."

"What happened today was despicable, it was hateful, it was wrong," Ardern said after the latest attack."It was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity. He alone carries the responsibility for these acts. Asked about the man's motivations, she said "it was a violent ideology and ISIS-inspired", using an acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group. Ardern said the man had been in prison but authorities had to release him as there was no legal reason to keep him in custody. "The fact that he was in the community will be an illustration that we haven't succeeded in using the law to the extent we would have liked," she added.