He said he barely passed school and didn't attend university because nothing interested him enough. He claimed to have made money investing in cryptocurrency. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Tarrant worked at the Big River Squash and Fitness Centre in Grafton from 2009 after attending the facility as a high school student, owner Tracey Gray told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. The Big River Squash and Fitness Centre. Credit:Frank Redward/Nine "He started coming to my facility as a boy that was finishing school and showed a lot of dedication to his own training. Then he went and did his personal training qualifications," she said.

In various social media posts, Mr Tarrant indicated that he got an inheritance after his father died and used it to quit work and travel the world in 2011. Gray understood Mr Tarrant's father died of an asbestos-related illness and worked for the James Hardie group. She believed his mother possibly still lives in Grafton. "He left here to go travelling and as far as I knew he was travelling to sort of see as much of the world as possible," she said. Tracey Gray owns the gym that Brandon Tarrant worked in before he left Australia to travel the world. Credit:Frank Redward/Nine "He's worked in the fitness industry where it's about helping people. It's an inclusive industry, not an exclusive industry. We take all shapes and sizes, all different people... so I think something's really happened in this person's travels... He never showed any extremist tendencies in conversations I had with him."

She told Nine News: "Somewhere along the lines, experiences or a group have got a hold of him." Loading Last year, a message on Facebook from Mr Tarrant spoke of a trip to Pakistan, "an incredible place filled with the most earnest, kind hearted and hospitable people in the world". "The beauty of hunza and nagar valley in autumn cannot be beat," he wrote. It appears he settled in New Zealand at some point in his travels. In a 37-page manifesto posted to Twitter minutes before the attack, Mr Tarrant said he did not identify as an Australian despite being born here. He described Australia as a lacklustre, apathetic offshoot of Britain.

"The origins of my language is European, my culture is European, my political beliefs are European, my philosophical beliefs are European, my identity is European and, most importantly, my blood is European," he wrote. "What is an Australian but a drunk European? Kidding, but Australia is a European colony, particularly of British stock and thereby an extension of Europe." The Grafton home Brandon Tarrant grew up in. Credit:Frank Redward/Nine Mr Tarrant wrote of his obsessions with racial purity, claiming the attack would "show the invaders that our lands will never be their lands". He also wrote that he began planning the attack "roughly two years in advance", and chose the final location three months prior to the attack.

The manifesto covered topics from taxation to white birthrates, envisaging the fall of mosques in what was one Constantinople in Turkey, while also including the Dylan Thomas poem Do not go gentle into that good night. Loading On Friday, Mr Tarrant allegedly entered two central Christchurch mosques and opened fire, killing 41 people at Masjid Al Noor in Deans Ave at 1.40pm local time, and seven at Linwood Masjid. Mr Tarrant is believed to have livestreamed the massacre online with a body cam. His social media accounts have since been removed. One witness told Nine News, "I could hear screaming and crying and saw some people were dropped dead".

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that the victims ranged in ages, with Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirming 49 people are dead. Three suspects are now in custody, one of whom is Mr Tarrant. Following the devastating events in New Zealand, NSW Police issued a statement, assuring "the public there is no ongoing or specific threat to any mosque or place of worship in Sydney or across New South Wales". NSW Police have increased patrols and senior officers have reached out to the community and religious leaders to provide support and reassurance. "Everyone should continue to go about their business without fear," the statement said.