A witness says many people have been killed in a mass shooting at the Masjid Al Noor mosque in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
One person has been taken into custody, according to police.
Police have not described the scale of the Friday shooting, but the city of Christchurch has effectively been placed on lockdown. New Zealand media also said a shooting occurred in a second mosque, Linwood Masjid in the city. No details were immediately available from that shooting.
New Zealand news outlet Stuff reported that multiple people have been confirmed killed.
Witness Len Peneha said he saw a man dressed in black enter the Masjid Al Noor mosque and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running from the mosque in terror.
He says he also saw the gunman flee before emergency services arrived.
Peneha says he went into the mosque to try and help: “I saw dead people everywhere.”
A witness who spoke to CNN International, Mohan Ibn Ibrahim, said the shooting went on for at least 15 minutes.
Ahmad Al Mahmoud, who spoke to Stuff, said “the guy, he was wearing like army [gear].” He said he had a “big gun” and “came through and start shooting like everyone in the mosque, like everywhere.”
He also described a crush at the back the of the mosque as people tried to escape.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days” and said the attacker, or attackers, “have no place in New Zealand.”
“There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was," she said. “For now my thoughts, and I’m sure the thoughts of all New Zealanders, are with those who have been affected and also with their families.”
He said there could have been "more than hundreds” of shots that were fired from what he heard.
Members of the national cricket team of Bangladesh - in the country to play a series against New Zealand’s national team - tweeted that they escaped from one of the mosques.
Under New Zealand’s Arms Act of 1983, private gun ownership is allowed with a license. It provides for a special, far more restricted classification of “military style semi-automatic” weapons, however.
Copyright 2019 Associated Press and Gray Television Group, Inc. All rights reserved.