The LynnMall terrorist’s neighbours have spoken out to the media for the first time after the attack at an Auckland supermarket.
Neigbours of the Isis-inspired supermarket terrorist are in shock after learning of the incident.
Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen was under 24-hour police surveillance when he entered Countdown LynnMall on Friday and grabbed a knife from the shelves before running through the aisles shouting.
The Islamic State supporter stabbed at least five shoppers before being shot dead by police.
The Sri Lankan national was living at Masjid-E-Bilal on Waikaukau Rd in Glen Eden.
Iasinito Manu has lived on Waikaukau Rd for three years and said he wasn’t aware he lived near a terrorist.
On Friday afternoon Manu was at work, when a colleague told him what was unfolding in New Lynn.
“I was busy loading my truck [and] I was pretty shocked,” he said.
During this time Manu’s partner and her family were at home watching the police raid a nearby property.
Manu himself has Muslim friends who he calls family and hopes this one incident will not define their community.
“We do have a lot of them walk to and from the mosque and they say hi.
“They are good people,” he said
Although, Manu did not know the terrorist, he said “his face does look familiar”.
Another neighbour – who had lived in the area for 17 years – said he was frustrated to learn the terrorist was living next door to a rock climbing centre, where hundreds of people from all ages visit daily.
“It’s just not good enough,” the man said.
Another resident was on his front lawn when he saw police pull up to the mosque where he lived with rifles on Friday.
“I was weeding down the driveway and there was an unmarked [police] car turn up, parked outside our place and it came to my attention because it rarked the dogs up.”
He then saw two police officers carrying rifles cross the road towards the mosque.
“I then saw another cop car pull up just up the road and two officers got out of that and approached the mosque holding rifles.”
The man, who has lived on Waikaukau Rd for the past 20 years, said he he’d noticed “no drama around here whatsoever”.
– NZHerald
