Anatomy of an Active Shooter: New Zealand Mosque Active Shooter

On March 15, 2019 a man entered a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand and murdered 51 people. The man, who will not be named here, wore a video camera during the attack and live streamed it as it happened. I have the video and show it in all of my active shooter courses and often in other presentations. I show it because it shows exactly when and where the shooter could have been stopped. However, New Zealand has banned this video and anyone who possesses or views it there faces up to 14 years in prison.

If you are reading this from New Zealand, just close this window and move on to something else. Your government doesn’t want you to learn from this incident.

With that out of the way, I will debrief the incident while we both view the live stream. By examining the attacker's approach, entry, and movements within the mosque, we can uncover valuable lessons on situational awareness, security protocols, and emergency response. My hope is that we learn from this incident so that we can prevent a similar tragedy in our own churches and synagogues.

This analysis is not meant to glorify the attacker or the violence committed but to serve as an educational tool for those responsible for the safety and security of their communities. I urge all church leaders, safety team members, and concerned individuals to take these lessons to heart and implement the recommended measures to create safer environments for worship.

To my valued subscribers, you will notice a paywall starting after this paragraph. I appreciate your support and your commitment to enhancing church safety. My goal has always been to provide free training to ensure that no church falls victim to an attack. However, implementing this paywall helps protect our content from those who oppose our mission and might pressure Substack to ban this account because of we are showing the video. By restricting access, we can continue to offer these vital insights to those who genuinely seek to improve their security measures. If you share this with others, I only ask that you point people back to this site so they can get free training and updates on church safety.