Jamila Husain 
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New Zealand mall terror attacker was a Sri Lanka national with ISIS ideology
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said an 'Isis-inspried lone wolf' who had caused the supermarket terror attack in Auckland was a Sri Lankan national who had arrived in New Zealand in 2011.
Addressing the media over the brutal terrorist attack, Arden said the terrorist was dead following the terror attack which left six people in hospital.
"This was a violent attack, it was senseless on innocent New Zealanders," Jacinda Ardern said.
Ardern said the attack was undertaken by an individual who was a known threat.
The man was under constant monitoring. He was shot and killed within 60 seconds.
"I want to acknowledge the six New Zealanders injured." Three were serious, Ardern said.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the man was "closely watched by surveillance teams and a tactical team" as he traveled from his home in Glen Eden to Countdown in New Lynn, the New Zealand Herald reported.
He obtained a knife from within the store.
Coster said the man was under surveillance because of his extremist beliefs.
"I know this situation raises questions about whether the Police could have done more," Coster said.
"The reality is when you are surveilling someone on a 24 hour basis it is not possible to be immediately next to them," Coster said.
"The Terrorist is a Sri Lankan national who arrived in 2011," said Ardern
Much information about him is covered by court suppression orders, she said.
The terrorist became a person of interest in 2016.
"We have utilised every legal and surveillance power available to us to keep people safe from this individual," Ardern said.
There will be multiple inquiries, Ardern said including from the IPCA and the coroner.
"What happened today was despicable, it was hateful it was wrong"
"It was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person who is gripped by an ideology that is not supported here by anyone."
Ardern said she intended to wait for the reports to release any information she could.
"He alone carries the responsibility for these acts. Let that be where the judgment falls," Ardern said.
The man was fatally shot by police officers and several shoppers are understood to have suffered life-threatening injuries in horrific scenes at a West Auckland supermarket this afternoon.
Four people have been injured - three critically. They include people believed to have been attacked in the New Lynn mall Countdown. Their assailant was then fatally gunned down by police.
Three critical patients, and another in a serious condition, have been taken to Auckland City Hospital. One person in a moderate condition is at Waitākere Hospital, and another in a moderate condition is at Middlemore Hospital.
"As the commissioner has said there was nothing to indicate that what he did today was going to happen today," Ardern said.
Ardern had been advised that she cannot share the timeline of the man's interaction with the state - including whether he had recently been released from prison.
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