- Title: TIMELINE: New Zealand's deadliest shooting ahead of gunman's appeal
- Date: 8th February 2026
- Summary: On the grass outside a church in New Zealand lie 50 pairs of white shoes, each representing one of the lives lost in a mass shooting at two mosques in the community just a few days ago. CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (FILE - MARCH 19, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WHITE SHOES OUTSIDE CHURCH The bodies of two victims from New Zealand's mosques mass shooting were carried in open cas
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Christchurch Islam Jacinda Ardern New Zealand court guns haka law mosque muslim shooting
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: New Zealand
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA00D000801011970RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers and injured dozens at two mosques in Christchurch in March 2019, the worst mass shooting in New Zealand's history, will begin an appeal hearing against his sentence on Monday (February 9).
Brenton Tarrant, 35, was convicted on 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act and is serving a life sentence in prison without parole.
It was the first time a New Zealand court had sentenced a person to prison for the rest of their life.
Tarrant, an Australian national, released a racist manifesto shortly before storming the mosques armed with military-style semi-automatics, indiscriminately shooting at Muslims gathered for Friday prayers and livestreaming the killings on Facebook using a head-mounted camera.
New Zealand's worst peacetime killing shook the country to its core and prompted the government to quickly tighten gun laws.
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