Horrifying footage has emerged from inside a Christchurch mosque as a gunman opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle, shooting dozens of people inside at point blank range.
The distressing 17-minute footage, viewed by news.com.au and verified by Storyful, appeared to be streamed live as it happened from a GoPro attached to the shooter.
It begins with a man, who identified himself on Twitter as a 28-year-old Australian named Brenton Tarrant, in brown fingerless gloves driving through the streets of Christchurch towards the mosque.
The chilling POV video shows him parking the car around the corner, out the back of the building and opening the car boot revealing two black rifles covered in white writing, petrol containers and a bag that reads “PROUDLY KIWI AS”.
The man — described by witnesses at the scene as short and wearing a military uniform — casually walks into the entrance as people stand in the street.
He fires at least nine shots at people standing in the doorway, some of them jumping out of the way, before storming through the front door, shooting indiscriminately at anyone he sees.
The gunman then walks past at least one body on the floor — and the shoes left at the front door of the mosque — and appears to reload his weapon.
Several people duck for cover as the speed of the rounds being fired intensifies.
The distressing video shows him methodically killing as he walks in and out of rooms in an apparent attempt to make sure all people inside are dead.
When he leaves the mosque and walks back out the front gate, he shoots a volley of gunfire up and down the street.
Witnesses told Radio NZ the man never spoke a word when he opened fire, killing at least one child, aged five.
They said they had no opportunity to tackle the man as people scattered and tried to hide.