Court hears of man bravely confronting Christchurch mosque killer during attack

Artist Paul Walsh created the tribute to Naeem Rashid in Auckland’s Avondale.

In the midst of the horrifying massacre inside Al Noor Mosque last year, one man stood up and ran at gunman Brenton Tarrant.

The heroic actions of Naeem Rashid have come to light as the court releases a summary of facts for the first time, for the sentencing of the 29-year-old Australian.

He has admitted 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one terror charge after storming two Christchurch mosques in a hateful attack in March 2019.

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes read the full summary to the court as proceedings began, revealing the full horror of the crimes, but also uncovering the brave actions of Mr Rashid.

It came as the gunman entered the mosque and attempted to kill as many people as possible with a range of high-powered weapons, firing indiscriminately across the place of worship.

As others tried to flee, Mr Rashid ran directly at Tarrant, coming within a metre of him, before the attacker turned and fired four bullets from an AR-15 in his direction.

He struck Mr Rashid once in the shoulder but the brave man, who been worshiping at the mosque just moments earlier, was able to continue his momentum, crashing into his assailant and putting him down on one knee.

The impact dislodged one of the ammunition magazines from the gunman’s tactical vest, but he managed to stand up, go back a few steps and fire another volley, this time hitting Mr Rashid in the chest, hand and arm.

Mr Rashid lost his life but the summary notes that his heroic charge created enough of a distraction for several other worshipers to escape.

Many people now owe their lives to his brave actions on that horrible day.

The sentencing is likely to continue for several days.

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