A white supremacist shooter filmed himself gunning down dozens of worshippers at a mosque in New Zealand while streaming the massacre online.
The gunman, who called himself Brenton Tarrant on Twitter, entered the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch about 1.30pm on Friday during afternoon prayers and opened fire.
The distressing 17-minute video streamed on his Facebook shows the man, believed to be a 28-year-old Australian, firing more than 100 shots at those inside.
At least 27 people were killed and many more wounded during his minutes-long rampage. The room was piled with bodies.
The alleged gunman taking for his Facebook livestream before the Christchurch mosque shooting
Shooters rampage began when he got into his car wearing military-style body armour and a helmet saying ‘let’s get this party started’
His guns, including the semi-automatic shotgun he used, were scrawled with the names of past mass killers and cities where the shootings occurred.
Tarrant’s rampage began when he got into his car wearing military-style body armour and a helmet saying ‘let’s get this party started’.
He then drove to the mosque listening to folk music and military tunes before parking in an alley around the corner from the mosque.
After retrieving one of at least six guns stored in his car, he walked up to the front door and began firing indiscriminately at worshippers inside.
The gunman stormed inside and fired quick bursts and anyone he saw. One wounded man tried to crawl away but was shot again after he calmly reloaded.
After retrieving one of at least six assault rifles stored in his car, he walked up to the front door and began firing at the first person he saw
The shooter entered the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch about 1.30pm on Friday during afternoon prayers and opened fire
The gunman stormed inside and fired quick bursts and anyone he saw. One wounded man tried to crawl away but was shot again
He fired into crowds of huddled worshipers, sometimes not even looking where he was shooting, reloading numerous times.
When then sound of his gun stopped between magazines, the moaning of wounded people could be heard until the shots began again.
Several times he stood over wounded men, calmly reloaded his gun, then shot them multiple times to make sure they were dead.
The mosque has capacity to hold more than 300 people.
Tarrant then walked outside and appeared to fire on at least two targets, then returned to his car and swapped his shotgun for a scoped rifle.
Returning to the mosque he walked over to a pile of dead or wounded men in the room and began shooting them in the head to ensure they were dead.
The shooter’s weapons were marked with the names of other people who have carried out past attacks
Dozens of people have reportedly been killed, with a dead body seen near Al Noor Mosque (interior pictured)
Once he was satisfied everyone was dead, he ran outside and shot another person he saw on the mosque’s front lawn.
The woman stumbled on to the street and was lying face down in the gutter yelling ‘help me, help me’ as the shooter walked up to her.
Tarrant calmly leaned over her and shot her twice in the head.
Seconds later he returned to his car and drove over her body to make his escape, stopping to shoot at least one other person through his car window.
As he drove he expressed regret for not staying longer and ‘burning the mosque to the ground’. Two jerry cans of petrol were earlier seen the the back his car.
A man was seen with bloodstains on his trousers near the mosque after the shooting
Witnesses reported hearing 50 shots and police are responding to the incident at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country’s South Island
At least one gunman has opened fire at a mosque in New Zealand , shooting at children and reportedly killing dozens of people
‘But, s**t happens,’ he said. ‘I left one full magazine back there, I know for sure. I had to run along in the middle of the firefight and pick it up.
‘There wasn’t even time to aim there were so many targets. There were so many people, the car park was full, so there’s no real chance of improvement.’
The gunman posted a 87-page manifesto to Twitter before the killings, foreshadowing a ‘terrorist attack’.
In the shooter’s manifesto he mentions being inspired by other shooters including Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Oslo, Norway in 2011.
He said he ‘disliked’ Muslims and hated those who had converted to the religion, calling them ‘blood traitors’.
‘I have read the writings of Dylan Roof and many others, but only really took true inspiration from Knight Justiciar Breivik,’ he wrote.
Explaining his plans the massacre, the shooter wrote that: ‘To most of all show the invaders that our lands will never be their lands, our homelands are our own and that, as long as a white man still lives, they will NEVER conquer our lands and they will never replace our people.
‘By the definition, then yes. It is a terrorist attack. But I believe it is a partisan action against an occupying force.’
The man said he initially planned to target a mosque in Dunedin, but changed to the Al Noor Mosque because it had ‘far more invaders’.
He also claimed to be inspired by Candace Owens, an outspoken backer of United States president Donald Trump.
‘The person that has influenced me above all was Candace Owens, each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights.’