PStories of heroism have emerged from the attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that left 50 people dead.
A 48-year-old Afghan man says he confronted the gunman and threw a credit card machine at him.
Two rural police officers, one of them armed only with a handgun, chased and arrested Brenton Tarrant, 28.
The suspect had explosives in his car and was planning more attacks that day, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
She had earlier called the killings “an act of terror” and said the bodies of those killed should be returned to relatives for burial by Wednesday.
Tributes have been paid for the victims while some 34 people remain in hospital, including a four-year-old girl who is in a critical condition.
Abdul Aziz, who left Kabul for New Zealand several years ago, said he was inside the Linwood mosque, the second target of the attacker, when he heard shouts that someone had opened fire.
When he realised the mosque was being attacked, he picked up a credit card machine and ran towards the attacker. He threw the device at the gunman when he returned to his car to pick up another weapon, and ducked between cars as the gunman opened fire on him.
Mr Aziz, who was in the mosque with four of his children, picked up a gun that the suspect had dropped and pulled the trigger, but it was empty. He followed the attacker back inside the mosque, where he eventually confronted him again.
“When he saw me with the shotgun, he dropped the gun and ran away toward his car. I chased him,” he told Reuters news agency. “He sat in his car and… I threw [the gun] through his window like an arrow. He just swore at me and took off.” –BBC
