New Zealand police respond to 'firearms incident'1:22
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Mass shootings at Christchurch mosques
By
Ben Westcott, CNN
Updated less than 1 min ago11:46 p.m. ET, March 14, 2019
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31 min ago
NZ police: Multiple fatalities at two mosques in Christchurch
New Zealand police commissioner Mike Bush said in a Facebook video there had been "multiple fatalities, as far as we know, at two locations."
He named the two locations as mosques in Christchurch, but added he didn't know if there were other areas under threat.
"We are dealing with a very serious and tragic series of events," he said. "They involve an active shooter, they involve multiple fatalities."
Bush said they had one person in custody but didn't know if there were other people involved.
"I want to ask anyone that was thinking of going to a mosque anywhere in New Zealand today not to go, to close your doors, until you hear from us again," he said.
38 min ago
Eyewitness describes shooting at mosque
Mohan Ibn Ibrahim told CNN he was inside the mosque when the shooting began and that he heard the gunman "continuously shooting for ten to 15 minutes."
He said the shooting began at about 1:40 p.m. local time when he heard "gunfire sound coming from the back side."
"There is a barricade in the middle so if somebody gets inside by using the main door they have to come inside and walk maybe one minute."
"When I heard that there is a shooting -- the sound whats coming. I thought maybe it was an electrical circuit or something. But then it continuously happened."
Ibrahim said people began running out of the mosque and he "had to jump out of the wall" to escape.
"And we are still hearing the sound of the gun, continuously shooting for ten to 15 minutes," he said.
"I came to the street I saw one person got shot on his chest," he said, adding that the ambulance and police then arrived on the scene.
Ibrahim said he had heard reports from a friend that a gunman had opened fire at another mosque in the area.
"They told me that five people died over there in that mosque, and I have seen with my own eyes, three people dead on the street," he said.
"I could not contact two of my friends who are in the mosque as well."
"Thats what I saw. Lots of police and ambulance have come, and they did not allow us to go in the mosque or to get close to it," he said.