
A heroic father grabbed accused Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant's gun and forced him away from a mosque - bringing an end to the gunman's killing spree.

Abdul Aziz, 48, is being hailed a hero for preventing more deaths at the Linwood mosque after scaring the alleged killer into his car.

But Aziz, whose four sons remained in the mosque while he faced off Tarrant, said he thinks it is what anyone would have done.

Abdul Aziz, 48, is being hailed a hero for preventing more deaths at the Linwood mosque, Christchurch, after he chased alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant into his car where he drove away

Mr Aziz forced the killer to flee the scene by picking up a dropped gun, pointing it at the terrorist and trying to fire it. But the gun was empty and did not fire

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, is alleged to be the terrorist who attacked two mosques and killed at least 50 people. He has been charged with murder

A man wearing military fatigues (pictured) was arrested outside Papanui High School after the mosque attacks

Members of the community move flowers closer to one of the mosques as part of a vigil after the attack yesterday

At least 50 people were killed after Tarrant allegedly attacked two mosques in the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand since 1983.

The Australian is believed to have killed 41 people at the Al Noor mosque before driving about three miles across town to attack the Linwood mosque - where seven people were killed and one later died in hospital.

White supremacist Tarrant, 28, has been charged with one count of murder in the slayings and in a court appearance today a judge said it was reasonable to assume more charges would follow.

Man, 18, was also charged with 'inciting hostility or ill-will' in relation to the mosque attacks but he did not appear in court with Tarrant yesterday.

Police arrested three men - including Tarrant and an 18-year-old - and a woman following the attack.

The unnamed woman remains in custody, while the third man who was arrested is not linked with the attacks and has been released.

A member of the public tried to storm the court to 'knife' the attacker before proceedings began, as citizens were barred from attending.

Reliving the attack, Mr Aziz said he ran outside screaming in a bid to cause a distraction.

The father left his four sons in the mosque as he ran after the terrorist who is believed to have already killed 41 people at the Al Noor mosque across town

He said the gunman ran back to his car to get another gun, so he threw a credit card machine at him.

He said he could hear his two youngest sons, 11 and five, urging him to come back inside.

The gunman returned firing but Mr Aziz said he ran past parked cars which prevented him from being shot.

Mr Aziz spotted a gun the attacker had dropped and picked it up.

He pointed it and squeezed the trigger but it was empty.

He said the gunman ran back to the car for a second time to grab another weapon.

'He gets into his car and I just got the gun and threw it on his window like an arrow and blasted his window,' he said.

'The windshield shattered, that's why he got scared.'

He said the gunman was cursing at him, yelling that he was going to kill them all.

But he drove away and Mr Aziz said he chased the car down the street to a red light before it made a U-turn and sped away.

Online videos indicate police officers managed to force the car from the road and drag out the suspect soon after.

Mr Aziz, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, said he left as a refugee when he was a boy and lived for more than 25 years in Australia before moving to New Zealand a couple of years ago.

The have-a-go hero, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, said he went on to autopilot and believes Allah did not think it was his time to die

'I've been to a lot of countries and this is one of the beautiful ones,' he said.

He added that he always thought it was a peaceful one.

Mr Aziz said he didn't feel fear or much of anything when he faced the gunman.

He said it was like he was on autopilot and he believes Allah did not think it was his time to die.

Timeline of terror: How the Christchurch shootings unfolded Friday March 15, 1.30pm local time (12.30am GMT): Gunman identifying himself as Brenton Tarrant live-streams mass shooting inside the Al Noor Mosque as Friday prayers are underway. The Bangladesh cricket team were on their way to the mosque at the time. Another shooting takes place at a mosque in Linwood, 3.5 miles to the east. 1.40pm: Police respond to reports of shots fired in central Christchurch. People are urged to stay indoors and report any suspicious behaviour. Shortly afterwards, all schools in the city are placed into lockdown. 2.10pm: Police confirm they are attending an 'evolving situation' involving an 'active shooter' 3.30pm: Two explosive devices attached to a car are found and disarmed by a bomb squad at Strickland Street, not far from the Al Noor Mosque. 4pm: One person confirmed to be in custody. New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush says there have been 'multiple fatalities' at two locations - both mosques. Mosques across New Zealand urged to shut their doors. 4.10pm: Prime minister Jacinda Ardern calls it 'one of New Zealand's darkest days'. 5.30pm: Mr Bush says three men and one woman are in custody. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison confirms one of those arrested is Australian. 7.30pm: Ms Ardern says 40 are dead and more than 20 are seriously injured but confirms the offender is in custody National security threat level is lifted from low to high. 7.45pm: Britomart train station in central Auckland is evacuated after bags are found unattended. The bags were deemed not suspicious. 9pm: Death toll rises to 50 and Police Commissioner Bush reveals a man in his late 20s has been charged with murder. Police are not looking for any named or identified suspects, he says, but adds that it would be 'wrong to assume that there is no-one else'. 11.50pm: Investigation extends 240 miles to the south where homes are evacuated around a 'location of interest' in Dunedin. Advertisement

Latef Alabi, the Linwood mosque's acting imam, said the death toll would have been far higher at the Linwood mosque if it wasn't for Mr Aziz.

Mr Alabi said he heard a voice outside the mosque at about 1.55pm and stopped the prayer he was leading and looked out the window.

He saw a man in black military-style gear and a helmet holding a large gun and assumed it was a police officer.

But he saw two bodies and heard the gunman yelling obscenities.

'I realised this is something else. This is a killer,' he said.

He yelled at the congregation of more than 80 people to get down but they hesitated and a shot was fired.

It caused a window to shatter and a body fell and people began to realise it was an attack.

Mr Alabi said: 'Then this brother came over. He (Aziz) went after him, and he managed to overpower him, and that's how we were saved.

'Otherwise, if he managed to come into the mosque, then we would all probably be gone.'

It comes after another hero emerged yesterday.

Naeem Rashid died after trying to wrestle a gun from the shooter.

It was later revealed his son was also a victim of the terror attack.

Mr Rashid tried to overpower the gunman during the mass shooting at Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch on Friday afternoon.

The hero was left badly wounded after he launched himself at the shooter in a bid to protect fellow worshippers.

He was rushed to hospital following the attack, but died late Friday night.

Mr Rashid was from Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he worked with a private bank before he moved to Christchurch to work as a teacher.

Mr Rashid's 21-year-old son, Talha, also lost his life during the mass shooting.

Dr Khursheed Alam confirmed to ARY News that his brother Mr Rashid and nephew Talha had been killed in the attack.

Pakistan's High Commission in Wellington earlier confirmed that four Pakistani men were wounded and five others missing.

A survivor also told how another man tackled the gunman and stole one of his weapons.

Witness Syed Mazharuddin said he also saw a second hero - believed to be Mr Aziz - at the Linwood Masjid mosque, the second to be attacked.

Mr Mazharuddin said he saw the shooter wearing protective gear and firing wildly before a young man attempted to tackle the gunman.

The mosque massacre hero Naeem Rashid has died after he tried to wrestle the gun from the Christchuch shooter during the Friday afternoon attack

Mr Rashid tried to overpower the shooter - identified as 28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant - during a mass shooting at Al Noor mosque at Christchurch, which was live-streamed - a second attack also happened at Linwood Masjid mosque

Mr Rashid was quickly rushed to hospital following the Friday afternoon attack, but died later that night (pictured, mourners lay flowers following the terrifying mass shooting)

'He saw an opportunity and pounced and took his gun,' he told The NZ Herald.

The young hero took the gun out of the shooter's hands and attempted to defend people in the mosque but couldn't figure out how to use the weapon, he said.

'The hero tried to chase and he couldn't find the trigger in the gun... he ran behind him but there were people waiting for him in the car and he fled,' Mr Mazharuddin added.

Mr Mazharuddin said he tried to take cover when he noticed the gunman come in through the main entrance door where 60 to 70 people were praying.

Syed Mazharuddin (pictured) was praying on Friday at the Linwood Masjid mosque in Christchurch when he heard gunshots right in front of him, then saw a man jump up and seize the attacker's gun

He said the gunman then opened fire on elderly people who were praying inside the mosque and he witnessed one of his friends die in the brazen attack after they were shot in the chest and head.

On Saturday Australian-born Brenton Harrison Tarrant faced Christchurch District Court charged with one count of murder.

He smirked in the dock and then made a white power gesture with his hand.

WHAT IS THE 'WHITE POWER' SIGN? The 'white power' symbol started off in internet forums as a joke and has been propelled by far-right commentators. The 'white power' sign uses the three played fingers of the OK symbol which look like a 'W' and the circle formed by the thumb and index finger to resemble the head of a 'P'. The hand sign which copies the OK sign has its roots in the meme culture of the far-right and has been popularised by commentators such as Mike Cernovich and Milo Yiannopoulos. It was developed by alt-right contributors to sites like 4chan and 8chan into a campaign dubbed 'O-KKK' to hijack of the innocuous looking hand gesture into something more sinister. Milo Yiannopoulos has helped to popularise But this was a hoax. A typically alt-right hoax which preys upon the outrage culture of its rivals and hides behind a veneer of irony. Those who make the sign are able to feign ignorance of any evil connotations because the OK sign is so widespread and used in so many other contexts. Recently four Alabama police officers in the States were suspended after a photo of them emerged making an upside down OK symbol. Advertisement

Tarrant (pictured as a child in his late father's arms) used the video and manifesto to outline his racist views before carrying out the massacre, which was the worst mass-shooting in New Zealand's history

Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed on Twitter that the death toll stands at 50, with 42 injured.

Brenton allegedly stormed the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island during Friday prayers about 1.30pm, opening fire with a semi-automatic shotgun and a rifle on about 100 defenceless worshippers.

Joyce Tarrant, 94, said the cold-blooded killer who filmed himself calmly gunning down Muslims during Friday prayers was not the grandson she knew

The attack was broadcast in horrifying, live video - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern later confirmed in a press conference five firearms were used in the attack. It followed the publication of a 73-page manifesto in which Tarrant laid out his racist, anti-immigrant views.

'It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,' Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees.

She pronounced it 'one of New Zealand's darkest days.'

The attack shocked people across the nation of 5million - a country that has relatively loose gun laws but is so peaceful even police officers rarely carry firearms.

Tarant's grandmother Joyce, 94, said the alleged killer was not the grandson she knew.

The news of his alleged attacks came as a shock to the family, particularly to Brenton's mother Sharon, who was in class teaching a double-period of English when her son allegedly went on his shooting rampage.

The family's reaction to the massacres come as foreign border authorities reveal they're investigating his travels through Bulgaria, North Korea and Turkey.

Police arrested and charged one man aged 'in his late 20s' with murder. He is expected to face court Saturday. Pictured is an image of Tarrant that was posted to Facebook by a Pakistani hotel-owner, which appears to show Tarrant in the country

At least one gunman has opened fire at a mosque in New Zealand , shooting at children and killing dozens of people