Afghan refugee, who chased gunman away, earns praise

Christchurch, March 17

When Afghan refugee Abdul Aziz saw a man brandishing a gun outside his mosque in Christchurch, he ran towards the attacker armed with the only weapon he could find — a hand-held credit card machine.

Seven people were killed when a white supremacist stormed Linwood Masjid, the second mosque he attacked on Friday, as worshippers knelt to pray.

But the death toll could have been much higher if not for the heroic actions of Aziz, whose efforts to distract and chase the gunman away have attracted widespread praise.

Aziz and his four sons were worshipping at the mosque when they heard the loud cracks of a gun being fired outside the building. Initially thinking someone was setting off firecrackers, Aziz became suspicious and ran out of the mosque, grabbing a small credit card processing device.

Outside, he was stunned to find an armed man wearing military-style fatigues.

“At first, I didn’t know if he was the good guy or the bad guy. But when he started swearing, I knew he was not the good guy,” he said.

Aziz hurled the machine at Tarrant and then ducked between several cars as the self-confessed fascist unleashed a barrage of shots at him. — AFP