The Star: March 21, 2019

news online at www.star.kiwi
The Star Thursday March 21 2019
NEWS 3
Father and son buried
THE FIRST two people to be
buried after last week’s mosque
attacks were a father and his son.
Khaled Mustafa was 44 and
Hamza Mustafa was 15. Hamza
was a pupil at Cashmere High
School and was compassionate
and hard-working, according to
the principal Mark Wilson.
Hamza was an excellent
horse rider who aspired to be a
veterinarian, Mr Wilson said.
Hamza’s younger brother
Zaed, 13, sustained gunshot
wounds to the leg in the attack.
Mourners at Memorial
Park Cemetery in Bromley
yesterday carried the bodies to
a freshly dug gravesite, where
hundreds gathered around to
watch.
Some were invited to scoop
handfuls of dirt on top of the
bodies.
Authorities spent four days
constructing a special grave at a
cemetery which is designated for
Muslim burials.
The families of those killed
had been anxiously awaiting
word on when they could bury
their loved ones.
It is expected all of the victims
of Friday’s terror attacked will
be laid to rest at Memorial Park
Cemetery. More burials were
scheduled last night.
Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly,
of Sydney, travelled to
Christchurch to attend or lead
some of the funerals.
Through a translator, he said
he felt compelled to support the
grieving.
A nationwide lockdown on
mosques has been imposed until
Monday, which Hilaly said had
upset Muslims whom he had
visited in Auckland.
POLICE commissioner
Mike Bush has commended
his “courageous” officers who
arrested the alleged gunman
Brenton Tarrant 21min after
they were alerted while he was
on route to another attack.
Mr Bush said it took 5min and
39sec for police to be armed and
on the scene ready to respond to
the attack. In 10min the armed
offenders’ squad was on the
scene.
“In 21min the person now
in custody was arrested from
when we were first notified to
when we intervened and he was
arrested, away from further
harm from the public,” Bush
said.
“We strongly believe we
stopped him on the way to a
further attack. Lives were
saved.”
The time line of events for
Friday’s attacks, which killed 50
Police continue to guard
mosques across the country.
Meanwhile, police have
formally released the first five
names of those killed in the
shootings yesterday.
They are:
•Haji Mohemmed Daoud
Nabi (male)
•Mohsen Mohammed Al
Harbi (male)
•Kamel Moh’d Kamal
Kamel Darwish (male, of
Jordan)
•Junaid Ismail (male)
•Mucaad Ibrahim
(male)
people and wounded another 50,
was about 40min.
Tarrant was arrested by
two officers on Brougham St,
following the shootings at both
the Deans Ave and Linwood
mosques.
Mr Bush said
this was “absolutely
an international
investigation.”
It involved New
Zealand police, the
FBI, Australian police,
and Five Eyes partners.
“To build a
comprehensive picture
of this person we will
put before the court.”
Mr Bush also
confirmed yesterday there was
just one attacker.
“A focus [of the investigation]
is to figure out if anyone else was
supporting him in any way. We
are still conducting that part of
MOURNING: The first burials were held at Memorial Park
Cemetery in Bromley yesterday.
Gunman had another target
the investigation.”
They were not looking at
anyone specifically.
At Tarrant’s next court
appearance, at the High
Court on April 5, there would
“undoubtedly be
more charges,” Mr
Bush said.
“We are working
towards, as you
can imagine, a
considerable number
of the most serious
charges.”
Regarding the
other people charged,
Mr Bush said one
was a lone man who
appeared at one of
the cordons with a firearm, and
the others were a couple – a man
and a woman.
The woman had been
released, while the man
had been charged with a
Mike Bush
firearms offence.
“We do not believe they are
related to the attacker in any
way,” Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush said there were
120 people involved in the
identification of victims process,
involving forensic experts from
overseas, with the focus of
“reuniting victims with loved
ones.”
While for police, the No
1 priority was victims and
families, on behalf of the chief
coroner it was to ensure absolute
accuracy in the identification
process.
The other responsibility was
prosecution.
“We must prove the cause
of death to the satisfaction of
coroner and judge. You cannot
convict for murder without that
cause of death.”
•Insight into capture, p6
INJURED: Wasseim Alsati
with his daughters. Alin is on
the left.
‘Please pray
for me and
my family’
THIRTY PEOPLE who were
injured in the terror attacks on
Friday remain in hospital.
Two people have been
discharged since Monday.
However, there are still eight in
a critical condition in intensive
care.
This includes four-year-old Alin
Alsati who was shot up to three
times. She is currently in a critical
condition in intensive care at
Starship Hospital in Auckland.
The pre-schooler, who turns
five next month and should have
been starting school, has been in
critical care since Saturday.
Her father, Jordanian barber
Wasseim Alsati, was gunned
down beside her as they
worshipped at the Deans Ave
mosque.
Mr Alsati is now in a stable
condition at Auckland City
Hospital. He posted a video on
Facebook from his hospital bed
on Saturday asking friends and
family to “please pray for me and
my daughter.”
Canterbury District Health
Board chief executive David
Meates said people injured in the
mosque were a priority.
“We will be continuing to
postpone planned surgeries for
some time to come in order to
free up theatre space and surgical
teams. We apologise to anyone
who may have their surgery
postponed, but know they will
understand the extraordinary
circumstances,” he said.
Mr Meates said it was a
possibility that outpatients could
also be postponed.
“Most appointments at
Christchurch Outpatients are
going ahead as planned. If your
appointment has to be postponed,
we will contact you directly. We
are prioritising the time of the
clinicians needed to care for those
injured in last Friday’s attack.”