Identity of attacker who stabbed 7 in NZ supermarket revealed, pic surfaces

Auckland: The Islamic State-inspired radical who was shot dead by police after he attacked people with a knife in an Auckland supermarket has been identified as 32-year-old Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen.

Seven people were stabbed and wounded at the supermarket in New Zealand on Saturday. Three of the victims remained hospitalized in critical condition and three more were in stable or moderate conditions. The seventh person was recovering at home.

The youngest victim was a 29-year-old woman, the oldest a 77-year-old man.

According to local media reports, the 32-year-old attacker was a Sri Lankan national who had been convicted and imprisoned for about three years before being released in July.

The attacker’s identity was revealed a day after the court gave permission to the New Zealand government to disclose the man’s name—which was otherwise prohibited under the suppression order.

Samsudeen was granted name suppression by a high court in July 2018.

At that stage, his refugee status was uncertain and the suppression order was to remain in place until that was determined

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had earlier said the attacker surveillance since 2016 because of his support to the Islamic State ideology.

She said the man by law could not be kept in prison, so he was being constantly monitored instead.

The attacker spent three years in prison after being charged multiple times for possessing hunting knives and objectionable publications, Ardern said.

According to reports, Samsudeen, a Tamil Muslim, came to New Zealand on a student visa. He first came to the attention of police in 2016, after posting comments advocating violent extremism on social media.

He was initially arrested at Auckland airport in 2017, believed to be on his way to Syria. Police also found "restricted publications" and a hunting knife in his apartment. He was charged with possessing the items, pleaded guilty and was released on bail.

Ardern said she had received briefings about the threat the man posed in July and in August.