Much about the Christchurch shootings remains unclear, but there is no doubt the scale could have been worse.

Three undisputed points on the map form a triangle that show the alleged killer Brenton Tarrant’s stated intention to strike at a third mosque was real.



The third target, the Ashburton Mosque, is more than an hour’s drive from the Linwood Mosque attack site. When he was stopped by police after leaving Linwood, Tarrant was on the most direct route between the two locations



Police have now confirmed they are not looking for any other killers. Tarrant was allegedly killing alone. It is clear from the PDF document he uploaded just after midnight on Friday morning that Tarrant was in the habit of using standard software widely available: the PDF was saved from a Microsoft Word master document.



Given this reliance on standard software, it is reasonable to assume the alleged killer used Google Maps to scope his targets, plot his routes, and navigate during the attacks.



These are the three relevant points on the map:

