by Jenn Carter
During attacks in New Zealand on Friday, two mosques were targeted by gunmen shooting at worshipers inside, with an estimated 49 people being killed.
But it could have been much, much worse, were it not for someone who shot back.
41 of the dead were murdered at the Masjid al Noor mosque in Christchurch, by a single assailant. But when two assailants attacked the Linwood mosque 3 km away, an armed man reportedly fired back at them, forcing them to flee the area.
The New Zealand Herald reports that the local man with the gun fired on the shooters after they unleashed “multiple gunshots” on the mosque in Linwood. The armed man ran after the shooters, firing two shots at them with “a rifle or shotgun” as they undertook their escape.
Ryan Saavedra tweeted:
Seven fatalities still occurred at the second mosque, but as it was far more crowded, the death toll overall could have easily exceeded 100 on the day were it not for the armed defender driving away not one, but two reported gunmen.
As Sgt. William Frederick said in his press conference: “the death toll could have easily been doubled.”
Not expecting the mainstream media to highlight this big point anytime soon, as it does not fit their narrative.
Guns are severely restricted in New Zealand, and the first mosque did not have an armed guard inside or outside. It is also unclear at this time how the reportedly Australian assailants managed to get their long guns into the country.
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This story is false. The “good guy with a gun” was an attendee at the mosque who picked up one of the attackers guns which he had discarded. The shots mistakenly attributed to him were in fact the attacker shooting at the person holding his gun as he fled.
It is illegal to carry firearms and illegal to discharge them in a built up area. A “good guy with a gun” would probably rightly face charges in New Zealand unless they could demonstrate that their actions weren’t reckless. If some untrained armed vigilante were to start shooting in a built up area they could well have made the problem worse.
Why don’t you mention how the gunman was eventually stopped and wrestled into submission by armed officers who never even drew their weapons? That doesn’t fit so well with the narrative does it?