New Zealand leader orders probe into origins of mosque attack

DUNEDIN, New Zealand — The gun enthusiast with light brown hair and an Australian accent did not stand out among the 100 or so members of the Bruce Rifle Club, who practiced shooting at a range in a forest in southern New Zealand.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant favored a bolt-action hunting rifle and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and would participate in shooting competitions, said Scott Williams, the club’s vice president. But no one saw any warning signs.

“He was polite. He would help put things away. He would help set up,” Williams said.

New Zealand officials are now wondering if they missed something about Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian citizen who lived in Dunedin and is the suspect in the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch on Friday that left at least 50 people dead.

On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had ordered an inquiry into whether government agencies could have prevented the attack.

“The purpose of this inquiry is to look at what all relevant agencies knew — or could or should have known — about the individual and his activities, including his access to weapons,” she said at a news conference in Wellington, the capital.

She also said her Cabinet had agreed “in principle” to an overhaul of the country’s gun laws and was working out the details.

“Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism, we will have announced reforms that I believe will have made our community safer,” Ardern said.

Earlier, Wally Haumaha, deputy New Zealand police commissioner, said identification specialists had worked through the night to identify the people killed at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques so their bodies could be returned to their families. Islamic leaders and victims’ relatives have been discussing whether to hold a burial...