The man police shot dead in an Auckland supermarket today after stabbing several shoppers is a known Isis sympathiser whom police had previously arrested for allegedly planning a “lone wolf” knife attack.

He was fatally shot by police officers after six shoppers were injured — including three critically — in horrific scenes at the New Lynn mall Countdown on Friday afternoon.

The injured are believed to have been attacked before their assailant was gunned down by police.

The offender is a 32-year-old man — known only as “S” for legal reasons — who has been on the police’s radar for several years, the Herald revealed last month.

S was considered a threat to public safety after twice buying large hunting knives and possessing Islamic State videos.

He had only recently been released from prison and was under constant surveillance from police, including an armed tactical team, and national security agencies.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media the attack was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person gripped by an ideology that is not supported here by anyone.

source nzherald.co.nz

Stabbing in #NewZealand supermarket was ISIS-Inspired terrorist attack – Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/LxB7NbwUwt

— Newsistaan (@newsistaan) September 3, 2021