…New Zealand attack: Family of alleged Christchurch gunman apologise to victims and say they are ‘shattered’ by his actions
The family of the Australian man charged with shooting dead 50 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques have apologised to his victims and said they have been left “shattered”.
“We’re all gobsmacked, we don’t know what to think,” said Marie Fitzgerald, the grandmother of alleged killer Brenton Tarrant. “It’s just so much of everything to take in that somebody in our family would do anything like this.”
Tarrant, 28, is accused of planning the massacre – which also left at least 50 injured in the city of Christchurch – for more than two years. When he appeared at court on Saturday, he made a white supremacy sign to reporters.
Speaking shortly afterwards in the Australian town of Grafton, New South Wales, where Tarrant grew up, Mrs Fitzgerald said she was “shattered – that’s the word”.
The 81-year-old claimed her grandson had changed following his father’s death from cancer in 2010 and a long trip to Europe which he took soon after.
*Source: The Independent