49 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in New Zealand

Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Friday in what the prime minister described as a terrorist attack, calling it one of the darkest days in the country’s history.

A 28-year-old man has been charged with murder and is expected to appear in a Christchurch court on Saturday morning, police said. Australian government officials identified him as Brenton Tarrant, an Australian citizen.

A manifesto posted on his Facebook page around the time of the attacks claimed responsibility, expressing white-supremacist views and describing the author as from a working-class Australian family.

Two other men and one woman, who were armed, were taken into custody as police tried to figure out whether there was more than one attacker, police said. One was determined not to be connected to the massacre. Two improvised explosive devices attached to a car were defused, according to police.

Schools, municipal offices and other buildings were locked down, and police asked mosques across the country to close their doors as they sought to determine the reasons for the attacks, which occurred on Islam’s day of worship

Written by Abelina Tavera