INTERNATIONAL: New Zealand police have shot dead an ISIS supporter who stabbed at least six people in a supermarket "terrorist attack" in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn on Friday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says, "This afternoon at approximately 2:40 p.m., a violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack. This was a violent attack, it was senseless, and I am so sorry it happened."

Ardern has added that the man was a Sri Lankan national, a "supporter of ISIS ideology," and a "known security threat." He was under constant surveillance by multiple government agencies, and security personnel were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds from the start of the attack.

Videos posted online show panicked shoppers running out of the LynnMall Shopping Centre and looking for cover as the situation unfolded. The Prime Minister did not publicly share the man's identity, saying he had faced court in the past and suppression orders prevented officials from releasing certain information about him. However, she claimed that she had been "personally aware" of him before the attack, and authorities were monitoring him because they could not keep him in prison.

Auckland was already under a Level 4 lockdown, the country's most stringent level, due to surging coronavirus cases -- meaning most shops are closed and most people must stay home. Supermarkets remain open as an essential service. New Zealand has been on alert for attacks since a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on March 15, 2019.