The exodus was largely replenished by migrants, many hired to help rebuild the city. The city’s population fell sharply after that event. The attacks took place in the apparently unlikely location of Christchurch, New Zealand, still struggling to recover after a devastating earthquake that brought down thousands of buildings and killed nearly 200 people in 2011. Posts on Twitter also appeared to herald the attack.įacebook, YouTube and Twitter struggle to deal with New Zealand shooting videoįacebook eventually took down the page and Twitter deleted the alleged perpetrator’s profile but not before the video had spread like wildfire across social media. It linked out to an 87-page manifesto filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim ideas, and directed users to a Facebook page that hosted the live stream. Before it took place, a post on the anonymous message board 8chan – a particularly lawless forum that often features racist and extremist posts – seemed to preview the horror. In fact, the entire attack seemed orchestrated for the social media age. In a sickening angle to an already horrific story, it was live-streamed online. It seems that the video was filmed by a perpetrator of the mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in which dozens of people were killed and injured. The video, which has not been verified by CNN, appears to show an unseen attacker opening fire on worshippers in a mosque, as if they were targets in a game. But it soon becomes terrifyingly obvious that what is being filmed here is not a work of fiction. The Twitter account of the same name was quickly suspended.The footage is grainy and has a video-game aesthetic.

The Facebook account that posted the video was no longer available shortly after the shooting.

In a lengthy manifesto published online the supposed shooter outlined who he was and why he carried out the massacre at the Christchurch mosque, NZ Herald reported. Inside the mosque, the gunman's footage showed distinctively patterned green carpet that also matched images tagged on Google Maps as being at the same location.ĭistinctive writing on the gunman's weapons seen in the footage also matched images posted on a Twitter account using the same name and cartoon profile picture as the Facebook Live video. This included the entrance of the mosque, which has a number of distinct features such as a fence, postbox and doorway. The 17-minute video ended as the gunman drove away from the scene at speed.Īgence France-Presse confirmed the video was genuine through a digital investigation that included matching screenshots of the mosque taken from the gunman's footage with multiple images available online showing the same areas.

He then re-entered the mosque to check for survivors.

Video of christchurch shooting live