NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Auckland mall terrorist attack: Witnesses tell of terrifying moments during supermarket stabbings

NZ Herald
5 Sep, 2021 09:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The ISIS supporter who stabbed at least five shoppers in an Auckland supermarket before being shot dead can now be identified.

Witnesses to the horror of the terrorist attack in an Auckland supermarket are still in shock and some say they haven't had any offers of support.

Shaneena Balasundram was at Countdown New Lynn on Friday afternoon when Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen grabbed a knife from the shelves and started attacking shoppers.

She told Newshub she still had "after shock" and hadn't left her house since Friday.

"Not yet, not yet - I probably need some time." She said it was due to the way she felt about people and being in a crowded place.

"I'm just going to stay inside until I get some confidence."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Amit Nand, also speaking to Newshub, said he was at the supermarket just two metres away from where the terrorist attack got shot.

He struggled to get to sleep on Friday night after the attack as the images of watching the man died kept playing through his head. Nand said he had to have a "few drinks" just to get to sleep.

No agencies such as Police or Victim Support had contacted him offering support yet, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, he was spending time at home with his family including his three children after Friday's event had left him a "bit more paranoid".

Nand said he was at the back of the shop near the freezer section when the attack happened and could hear "really loud screaming".

People were fleeing the store and telling him to run because there was a person stabbing everyone. As he tried to leave, he saw a woman lying on the floor crying for help.

Nand looked up and could see the terrorist with the knife up and two other stabbing victims were also lying on the ground.

Discover more

New Zealand

'I slept with one eye open': Terrorist's ex flatmate - he spoke of Anzac Day knife attack

05 Sep 11:54 PM
New Zealand|crime

Motorcycle crash: Simon Greenwood found not guilty of careless driving causing death

05 Sep 09:56 PM
Emergency services respond to a terrorist attack at Countdown New Lynn on Friday afternoon which left seven people injured, three critically. Photo / Alex Burton
Emergency services respond to a terrorist attack at Countdown New Lynn on Friday afternoon which left seven people injured, three critically. Photo / Alex Burton

Balasundram said she was running for her life and eventually took shelter in a storage cupboard with other Countdown staff.

"I couldn't run away. The trollies and chains were all locked and there was a storage room on my right-hand side and I saw a silver handle and I know that someone is there."

She banged on the door and one of the staff members let her in. Other staff members were also hiding and they had to try and calm down one distraught woman because they didn't want the terrorist to hear where they were, she said.

They hid in the cupboard for 10 minutes and could hear the events unfolding including a police dog barking. "In the group, we heard two gunshots and then they said, 'He's down, he's down'," she said.

"That's when we know, my god, he's gone, he's dead, they put him down."

She wanted to thank the Countdown staff including the worker who opened the cupboard to let her in and saved her life. "If the door hadn't opened and she didn't allow me, oh my god - I don't know what would have happened."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Samsudeen was under 24-hour police surveillance and within minutes of his attack, undercover police intervened and shot the man dead just after 2.30pm.

Nand was also grateful to the armed officers. "Thank god he had a gun."

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said today that four of the seven people injured in the attack remain in Auckland Hospital.

Two people were in a critical but stable condition, another was stable, and one was critical but improving.

The Government was now looking at introducing new laws around immigration and terrorism suppression to prevent future similar situations. The laws are expected to be passed this month, Robertson said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
Politics

The unique camera China used to film Christopher Luxon and what it means

21 Jun 12:31 AM
World

Luxon meets Xi Jinping, Russian drone attack, Trump on Iran | NZ Herald News Update

New Zealand|crime

Nurse conned $112k from workmates for gigs, gambling

20 Jun 11:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
The unique camera China used to film Christopher Luxon and what it means

The unique camera China used to film Christopher Luxon and what it means

21 Jun 12:31 AM

A Chinese cameraman brought a unique camera to film Luxon in Beijing.

Luxon meets Xi Jinping, Russian drone attack, Trump on Iran | NZ Herald News Update

Luxon meets Xi Jinping, Russian drone attack, Trump on Iran | NZ Herald News Update

Nurse conned $112k from workmates for gigs, gambling

Nurse conned $112k from workmates for gigs, gambling

20 Jun 11:00 PM
Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier

Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier

20 Jun 10:02 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP