CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Uber driver Rogelio Junior in New Zealand's city of Christchurch Saturday described his narrow escape when he was dropping off a customer at Linwood Masjid Mosque as "very very lucky."
He told Xinhua that he parked in front of the mosque where the shooting rampage was happening. Hearing gunshots, he drove off instantly.
It was revealed that a 28-year-old Australian man, Brenton Tarrant, conducted terrorist attacks targeting mosques in Christchurch and later was arrested by New Zealand Police. At least 49 people were killed and 48 are hospitalized now.
The news of arrest fails to comfort local residents because the puzzle of how the shooter got all those guns is haunting local residents. "Imagine every time he shoots a shotgun, he drops it off and picks another gun, and shoots again," the Uber driver said with the horrifying images reappeared in his mind's eye.
In the wake of Friday's attack, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised in the press conference that gun laws would be changed in New Zealand, with a mooted ban on semi-automatic weapons.
She said Brenton Tarrant had legally owned five guns and allegedly used two semi-automatic weapons, two shotguns and a lever-action firearm to conduct the attacks. Tarrant had a "category A" gun license that was legally obtained in November 2017.
Ardern revealed the preliminary evidence of modification in certain weapons. The ability to modify firearms has long been the Achilles' heel in New Zealand's firearm laws, allowing license-holders to legally hold weapons akin to those used in the military. Tarrant was said to have showed up on an Otago rifle club and practiced a military-style weapon shooting.
"While work is being done as to the chain of events that led to both the holding of this gun licence and the possession of these weapons, I can tell you one thing right now. Our gun laws will change," Ardern said.
"We need to look at the modification of guns that can lead them to become essentially the kind of weapons that were used in this terrorist attack."
Earlier in March, frontline police in New Zealand's Canterbury region were asked to carry guns temporarily in response to the surge of gang related shootouts in the city.
Police showed 17 times a firearm was presented at a police officer in 2017 and there were four incidents of officers being shot at. The police firearm routine was revoked days before the Christchurch mosque shootings.
Rogelio, the Uber driver, said the number of guns found in the Tarrant's car was still inexplicable.
As an Asian immigrant, Rogelio felt he was threatened by the allegedly anti-immigration attacks. "I was really lucky," he said, "When the shooter sees me, he probably takes no second to shoot me."
