Man who stabbed seven people at New Zealand supermarket is named

Published

4 years ago

September 4, 2021

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The man who stabbed seven people at a New Zealand supermarket has been named as Ahamed Samsudeen.

The 32-year-old had been assessed by authorities as such a high risk that he was being monitored by up to 30 police officers in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Samsudeen, who had arrived in New Zealand from Sri Lanka in 2011 on a student visa, had been charged a number of times with offences such as possessing knives and extremist publications.

In May 2017, he was also arrested at Auckland Airport where police suspected he was heading for Syria.

New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Saturday that the man had caught the attention of police in 2016 when he expressed extremist views and shared violent videos online.

Between then and Friday’s attack, he spent three years in jail in relation to a number of charges, before being released in July this year under certain conditions.

Ms Ardern said surveillance had started “immediately” after his release but Mr Coster said that despite officers being “very good at what they do”, they faced an extremely difficult job.

Their subject “had demonstrated a high level of paranoia about surveillance activity” – he was so paranoid that he had previously challenged members of the public who he thought were following him.

Auckland is also under COVID-19 restrictions, and fewer people on the streets meant officers found it more difficult to follow the man closely without being noticed.

This meant that they had not been able to move around Lynnmall’s Countdown supermarket with him on Friday afternoon.

Mr Coster said there had been “nothing unusual” about the attacker’s routine as he travelled to the supermarket by train, grabbed a trolley and shopped as normal for 10 minutes.

But then he is believed to have taken a knife from the shelves of the store before stabbing people at random.

Mr Coster said that the man was shot dead by police 60 seconds after the officers became aware of shouting and people running away, although the first stabbing had occurred up to 90 seconds before then, he said.

Five victims remain in hospital – three of them in a critical condition and two stable – while two others were treated in hospital and are recovering at home.

Ms Ardern said there were many details yet to be released about the attacker and the efforts to keep him detained.

She also indicated she would continue her stance on not mentioning the names of terrorists, something she made a point of after a terrorist killed 51 people at two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch two years ago.

She said on Saturday: “No terrorist alive or deceased deserves their name to be shared for the infamy they are seeking.”

Ms Ardern also talked about efforts to introduce a law that would have allowed the prosecution of those planning to commit terrorist acts.

A draft bill was introduced in April, with its first reading in May, and there were efforts to speed up its passage even on the day of the attack.

The bill was not brought about specifically to deal with the attacker, Ms Ardern said, but she acknowledged that, as his release had drawn nearer in July, it had appeared that under current laws, “we were reaching the point where all legal avenues were exhausted”.

When asked if such a bill could have kept the attacker in custody for longer and, therefore, possibly prevented the stabbings, she said: “I don’t think it’s fair to make an assumption that law change itself would have made a difference in this case.”

She revealed that, at times, there had been “up to 30” police officers monitoring the attacker for the 53 days between his release into the community and the stabbings.

But she added: “When you have a highly motivated lone actor like this individual, it is incredibly tough.”

Mr Coster said that officers at the scene had “acted exactly the way we would have expected them to… with great bravery and professionalism”.

He also praised members of the public who had been in the supermarket, many of whom tried to help the victims, including one who had advanced medical training.

Ms Ardern encouraged New Zealanders to “be kind” to those affected by the attack, adding: “Please wrap your arms around all of our victims – those of yesterday and those of the past.”

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Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to ‘humanitarian area’

Published

9 hours ago

September 6, 2025

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Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to 'humanitarian area'

Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.

Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.

There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.

On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.

Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.

That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.

But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.

Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.

There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.

Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.

Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.

On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.

“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.

Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.

World

‘Don’t bite me’: Man heard screaming moments before fatal shark attack in Sydney

Published

12 hours ago

September 6, 2025

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'Don't bite me': Man heard screaming moments before fatal shark attack in Sydney

A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.

Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.

The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.

Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.

Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.

Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’

Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.

“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.

“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”

Victim was a father and experienced surfer

New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.

“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.

“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.

“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”

Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.

Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.

“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”

Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.

Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”

Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.

The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.

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British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Published

18 hours ago

September 6, 2025

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British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Two of the three Britons killed in the Lisbon funicular crash have been named.

Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, were a couple and died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident.

Ms Smith graduated from the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, where Mr Nelson ran the master’s degree in directing.

The identity of the third British victim has not yet been confirmed.

MADS theatre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said Ms Smith was a “valued member of our society” who will be “greatly missed”.

It said she was an award-winning director and actress, who had also done multiple crew and front-of-house roles.

Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.

Police said the other fatalities were two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.

All but one were declared dead at the scene – and 21 others in the packed carriage were injured.

The yellow carriages of the Gloria funicular are a big draw for tourists, as well as a proud symbol of the Portuguese capital.

The journey is just 265m (870ft) up a steep hill and takes three minutes, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions on a linked cable.

Witnesses reported seeing one of the carriages hurtle down the hill before derailing and crashing 30m from the bottom.

The aftermath shows it crumpled and twisted against the side of a building.

People who were in the bottom carriage said they were a few metres into the climb when it started going backwards.

When they saw the other car speeding towards them, many jumped through the windows to escape.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called the crash “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past” and authorities are under intense pressure to quickly identifying the cause.

One witness who was in the lower carriage told Sky’s Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkall that the brakes appeared to fail.

The carriage’s brakeman, Andre Marques, has also been confirmed among the dead.

Officials said the streetcar, which has been running since 1914, had a half-hour visual inspection every day and underwent full maintenance last year.

The line links the downtown area near Restauradores Square with Lisbon’s Bairro Alto neighbourhood.

A preliminary technical report due on Friday has now been delayed until Saturday. Another report with a broader scope is expected within 45 days.

Three other funicular lines in Lisbon have been suspended.