VIDEO: New Zealand Police kill Daesh inspired knife attacker at Auckland mall
Armed police officers secure the area near the mall. AFP
New Zealand police shot dead a "violent extremist" at a supermarket in Auckland, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
The man stabbed and wounded at least six people in the supermarket.
“A violent extremist committed a terrorist act against innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern said at a news conference.
According to Ardern, the attacker is a citizen of Sri Lanka, has been in New Zealand for 10 years and has been a "face of interest" for about five years.
The attacker died within 60 seconds of the attack, she said, adding that he was inspired by the Daesh militants.
"It was hateful, it was wrong, said Ardern.
Videos posted on social media show people shopping at New Lynn supermarket shortly after the attack.
"There's someone here with a knife... he has a knife, a woman was heard.
Someone was stabbed.
The guard asked people to leave the mall shortly before about six shots were fired.
Of the six injured, three are in critical condition.
Witnesses told reporters outside the shopping centre that they saw several people lying on the ground with knife wounds.
Others said they heard gunshots as they ran out of the supermarket.
Videos posted online earlier showed panicked shoppers running out of the mall and looking for cover.
New Zealand has been on alert for attacks since a white extremist militant killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.
