On Friday in local New Zealand time, a carefully planned attack occurred in two mosques in the city of Christchurch. This shooting resulted in 49 people dying and 20 other people being injured. This tragedy created a major shock in the usually peaceful country. As the New Zealand prime minister referred to the shooting as a terrorist act and said that shooters’ extremist views have no place in New Zealand.

Shots were fired at the Noors mosque and the Linwood mosque. 41 people were killed at the Noors mosque and 7 people were killed at the Linwood mosque, and the other person that died passed away in the hospital.

Three men were arrested for suspected involvement in the shooting. One 28-year-old man was arrested for murder and will go to court this weekend. The other two men that were arrested were arrested for possession of firearms, but their connection to the shooting is still unsure. Police are not releasing the reasons behind the shooting, but one of the suspect’s social media account was found. On this account, there was an 87-page manifesto discussing anti-muslim and anti-immigrant thoughts, and an explanation for the attack.

Not only was there a social media post, but there was also a video posted online where a man walked into a mosque and started opening fire on the people inside. The video was quickly removed from the social media platform.

When Lakewood High School student, Annika Mintzlaff, heard of the incident she said, “This is such a terrible tragedy. I’m so sad to know that things like this still happen around the world.”