For two years New Zealand Muslims have been targeting “white people” as the enemy, and now Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen the LynnMall terrorist targets white people. He had previously been shouting ‘allah akbar’ in New World, but didn’t have any weapons on him.
Even in Gamal Fouda’s non-apology of the stabbing, he keeps the Islamic white hatred alive, knowing that Tarrant had no help from anyone here in New Zealand, and knowing Tarrant’s attack was inspired by Islamic terrorism. Ironic since many from NZ have travelled overseas to fight for ISIS, even those recruited at his mosque.
The government does not have money for counselling on the witnesses of this attack.
Shaneena Balasundarem was in the supermarket too. She was in the milk aisle with two other women.
“Me and her and then he just started stabbing [and shouting] ‘Allahu Akbar, Allah Akbar’ stabbing her, stabbing her… and then she fell and then he was starting to chase the other girl,” she says.
She says she was spared because of her skin colour.
“I really think he wasn’t interested in someone like me,” Balasundarem says.
“I really think he was interested in people of white colour because I was right there.”
She counts herself among the lucky ones but seven people were injured in the terror attack – five are in hospital, three in critical condition.
Yesterday police said they were at the scene almost immediately but CCTV footage tells a different story.
“The first stabbing occurred some 60-90 seconds before our teams heard shouts and people running,” says Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.
On Saturday at the scene of the crime police set up wide cordons. The mall was closed off to everyone as scene investigators try to make sense of a senseless crime. Locals too are still in shock.
“You just can’t contemplate that kind of thing happening can you?” one person said.
The Countdown at Lynn Mall has been closed and across the country Countdown supermarkets opened late so they could talk to staff.
In a statement on Saturday Countdown said it’d made the decision to temporarily remove all knives and scissors from their shelves. It said it’s not a reflection on customers, but an act of support for their team. Countdown wants all staff to feel safe when they come to work.
The terrorist was a Sri Lankan national who subscribed to IS ideology and his extremism was rejected today by Sri Lankans and Muslims alike.
Temel Atacocugu is a survivor from the March 15 terror attack and knows all too well the journey ahead for those who were at Lynn Mall.
“As a victim I’m a really traumatised person and I can understand they will be traumatised too,” he says.
“As a Muslim person, I don’t accept what they did yesterday.”
But for now Luke Mayow’s mother Rachel is happy to have a boy within her sight.
“Really relieved he made it home,” she says.
Counting their blessings and surviving to tell the tale.
It was security guard Luke Mayow’s second day of training on the job when the LynnMall terror attack occurred.
“As I’m running over I’m seeing droplets of blood,” he says.
Footage of Friday’s terror attack shows Luke running towards the danger.
“As I come around the aisle I see the offender wielding a knife,” he adds.
“Out of instinct I picked up a V, a plastic bottle and cocked it back like that.”
