New Zealand Mass Murders: Christchurch Mosque Attacks (15 March 2019)

On 15 March 2019, a self-proclaimed ‘white nationalist’ opened fire on worshippers at mosques in Deans Ave and Linwood, killing 50 people and wounding another 50. One victim died of his wounds six weeks later raising the death toll to 51. The Australian-born gunman used five weapons, including two semi-automatic assault rifles, in the attack. The death toll might have been even higher but for the heroism displayed by unarmed men at both mosques, and by the police officers who forced the assailant’s car off the road in central Christchurch. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as one of New Zealand’s darkest days. The shooter was charged with 51 murders, 40 attempted murders, and engaging in a terrorist act.

See: Christchurch Memorial

The 51 victims:

1. Ashraf Ali, 58. Ali was a Fijian taxi company owner on his annual pilgrimage to Christchurch. He was a talented footballer, known for his size and speed, which earned the name The Bulldozer. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
2. Ashraf Ali, 61. Close friend Abdul Qayyum told Daily Mail Australia he would always remember his "quiet" Fijian-born friend's laugh. Ali held both Fijian and New Zealand citizenship when he died. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
3. Husna Ahmed, 44. Ahmed was fatally shot in the back at the Masjid Al Noor Mosque after she led a group of children to safety. She had returned to check on her husband Farid, who uses a wheelchair, and to help him escape. Farid survived the attack.
4. Ahmed Abdel-Ghany, 68 Abdel-Ghany was one of four Egyptians killed in the attack. He died at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. His son Omar said Abdel-Ghany was a gentle and compassionate man who choose to see the best in people.
5. Syed Areeb Ahmed, 26 Ahmed had recently moved from Karachi, Pakistan, to work at PwC New Zealand and help support his family back home. He died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. PwC described him as a "loved and respected member" of the team.
6. Farhaj Ahsan, 30 Ahsan moved to New Zealand from Hyderabad, India, in 2010. The software engineer did a master's degree at the University of Auckland before settling in Christchurch. He died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
7. Mohsen Mohammed Al Harbi, 63 Al Harbi died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. His wife Manal was so distressed as she frantically searched for him, she collapsed and suffered a heart attack.
8. Hussein Al-Umari, 35 Abu Dhabi-born Al-Umari was one of the first people to protect fellow worshippers, according to his mother, Iraqi calligraphy artist Janna Ezat. He was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
9. Syed Jahandad Ali, 34 Ali was a senior developer at tech firm Intergen. Chief executive Simon Bright said he was a "highly respected and much loved" colleague. Ali was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. He leaves behind a wife and children.
10. Ansi Karippakulam Alibava, 25 A native of Kodungalloor in Kerala, Karippakulam Alibava had completed a master's degree and was living with her husband, Abdul Nazer. She was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
11. Linda Armstrong, 64 Armstrong grew up in West Auckland and moved to Christchurch to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. A friend told the Herald she always took people into her home and was kind, sponsoring a boy from Bangladesh. She was killed at the Linwood Masjid Mosque.
12. Muse Nur Awale, 77 Awale's death was announced by the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
13. Zakaria Bhuiya, 34 Bhuiya had recently married in his homeland of Bangladesh and was planning to bring his wife to New Zealand. He died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
14. Karam Bibi, 63 Bibi was killed at the Linwood Masjid Mosque. Her son, Muhammad Zeshan Raza, and husband, Ghulam Hussain, were also killed in the same attack. Bibi's daughter spoke to the BBC about how the three were her entire family.
15. Kamel Darwish, 38 The father of three was among six Palestinians shot dead. The Brisbane Times said he migrated to New Zealand from Jordan about six months ago to join his older brother, Zuhair Darwish. His wife and children had applied for a visa to join him. He died at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
16. Atta Elayyan, 33 The goalkeeper for the national and Canterbury men's futsal teams was shot as he prayed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. Born in Kuwait, he recently became a father and was a popular member of the Christchurch tech industry.
17. Ali Elmadani, 66 Elmadani and his wife migrated from the United Arab Emirates in 1998. The retired Christchurch engineer always told his children to be strong and patient. Elmadani died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
18. Abdukadir Elmi, 65 Elmi's death was announced by the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand. He died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. His daughter-in-law narrowly escaped the attack running down Deans Ave with her son in her arms.
19. Mohammad Omar Faruk, 36 Faruk had moved to New Zealand from Bangladesh, where his pregnant wife still lives. He had been working in Christchurch as a welder, contributing to the rebuild effort. He was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
20. Amjad Kasem Hamid, 57 Originally from Palestine, the heart doctor and his wife Hanan Hamid migrated to Christchurch 23 years ago. He has two adult sons. Hamid was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
21. Lilik Abdul Hamid, 57 The married father-of-two worked as an engineer for Air New Zealand. Chief executive Christopher Luxon said Hamid had been a valued part of the engineering team in Christchurch for 16 years and his loss would be deeply felt. Hamid was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
22. Mojammel Hoq, 30 Hoq, a student, moved to New Zealand from Bangladesh. He had been in Christchurch for more than two years, studying dentistry. He was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
23. Ghulam Hussain, 66 Hussain was killed at the Linwood Masjid Mosque. His wife Karam Bibi and son Muhammad Zeshan Raza also died in the attack. Hussain's daughter spoke to the BBC about how the three were her entire family.
24. Mucaad Ibrahim, 3 The youngest victim had gone to Masjid Al Noor Mosque with his older brother, Abdi, and father. Mucaad was lost in the melee as Abdi fled and his father played dead after being shot.
25. Junaid Ismail, 36 Ismail was fatally shot at Masjid Al Noor Mosque, a fate his twin brother Zahid narrowly escaped because he was parking his car outside the mosque when the shooting began. Junaid Ismail leaves behind three children aged between 1 and 5.
26. Ozair Kadir, 24 Kadir came to New Zealand with the hope of following in his older brother's footsteps by becoming a pilot. Instead, the person he looked up to most in the world had to escort his body home to their parents in Hyderabad, India. Kadir was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
27. Mohammed Imran Khan, 46 The restaurant owner was remembered by the owner of a neighbouring business as a "really good guy" with a son of 10 or 11.
28. Maheboob Allarakha Khokhar, 65 Khokhar was named dead by India's ambassador to New Zealand. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
29. Osama Adnan Yousef Abukwaik, 37 Abukwaik used his entire life savings to move his young family to New Zealand. He fell in love with the country and proudly told his brother he wanted his children to grow up here. Abukwaik was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
30. Haroon Mahmood, 40 Mahmood was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. He leaves behind a wife and two children, aged 13 and 11. Since completing his doctorate, he had been working as assistant academic director of Canterbury College, a private school for English language and business students.
31. Sayyad Milne, 14 Sayyad's father, John Milne, spoke through tears of his "brave little soldier", who died at the Al Noor Mosque. The Year 10 Cashmere High School student was a keen footballer who was at Masjid Al Noor Mosque with his mother and friends.
32. Muhammad Haziq Mohd-Tarmizi, 14 Haziq was praying at Masjid Al Noor Mosque with his family when he was killed. The teen's father Mohd Tarmizi Shuib was one of dozens injured in the attack.
33. Ashraf El-Moursy Ragheb, 54 Ragheb holds both Egyptian and New Zealand citizenship. He was one of four Egyptians killed in the attack and he died at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
34. Mohamad Moosid Mohamedhosen, 54 Mohamedhosen was born in Mauritius. He was killed in the Linwood Masjid Mosque during the attack.
35. Hussein Moustafa, 70 Moustafa had prayed in the same corner of the Masjid Al Noor Mosque since the family moved to Christchurch 20 years ago from Egypt. He died among many of his best friends.
36. Khaled Mustafa, 44 Mustafa and his family thought they had found safety in New Zealand after fleeing the bloody chaos of Syria. But both he and his teenage son Hamza were killed. A second son Zaid survived but was badly injured.
37. Hamza Mustafa, 16 Hamza called his mother Salwa Mustafa when the shooting began at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. He died at the Deans Av mosque. His younger brother Zaid was also shot but recovered from a six-hour operation. Zaid told media he wished he could trade places with his dead father and brother.
38. Haji Mohemmed Daoud Nabi, 71 Nabi moved his family to New Zealand in 1979 to escape the Soviet-Afghan war. His son, Omar, said that days before the shootings his father spoke about the importance of unity.
39. Tariq Rashid Omar, 24 Omar's father confirmed he had died at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. According to CNN, Rosemary Omar dropped her son off at the mosque then drove round the back to find a parking space when she heard multiple gunshots. She drove back to the front and saw "lots of bodies outside".
40. Hafiz Musa Patel,60 Imam Patel was the chief priest at Lautoka Jame Masjid in Fiji for about 25 years. He had been visiting Christchurch with his wife, at the invitation of friends, when he was killed at the mosque in Linwood. T
41. Abdelfattah Qasem, 60 Qasem was the Muslim Association's former secretary. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. The father-of-three was described by one of his daughters as a typical Kiwi bloke with a "heart of gold".
42. Naeem Rashid, 51 Rashid tried to wrestle a gun from the shooter at the Al Noor Mosque. Both he and his son Talha were killed in the mass shooting.
43. Talha Naeem, 21 Naeem was Naeem Rashid's oldest son. Aged 11 when the family moved to New Zealand, he had got a new job and was hoping to get married soon, the BBC reported. Naeem was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
44. Muhammad Zeshan Raza, 38 Raza and both his parents, Ghulam Hussain and Karam Bibi, were killed in the Linwood mosque. Raza's sister spoke to the BBC about how the three were her entire family.
45. Matiullah Safi, 55 Safi fled his war-torn homeland hoping to find safety in New Zealand. The father of six children died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. He would be remembered by his family as a kind, selfless, and devoutly religious man who "always had a smile on his face" .
46. Muhammad Abdus Samad, 66 Originally from Bangladesh's Kurigram district, the former lecturer moved to New Zealand with his wife and two children after retiring in 2012. After obtaining citizenship he worked as a visiting professor at Lincoln University. He was killed during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
47. Muhammad Suhail Shahid, 36 Shahid died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque. The father-of-two had just revealed plans for an October holiday back to Pakistan. Shahid had not been home in three years and he wanted to see his mother.
48. Mounir Soliman, 68 Soliman was one of four Egyptians who were killed in the terrorist attack. Soliman died at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
49. Zekeriya Tuyan, 46, died on May 2. The 51st victim of the Christchurch mosque shootings battled for his life for 48 days before succumbing to his injuries. Shot in the chest at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave, he remained in a critical condition in Christchurch Hospital after the attack, battling fevers and infections.
50. Arif Mohamedali Vohra, 58 Named dead by India's ambassador to New Zealand. He was killed at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
51. Ramiz Arifbhai Vora, 28 Named dead by India's ambassador to New Zealand. He died during the attack at Masjid Al Noor Mosque.