Abdul Aziz and Doctor Naeem Rashid have been given the country’s highest bravery award, the New Zealand Cross.
Ten people were given awards today for their courage in the terror attack on 15 March, 2019.
Doctor Naeem Rashid died protecting the people in the Al Noor Mosque. He had already been shot in the shoulder and he saw the gunman aiming at a group of people who were trying to escape out of the window. He ran towards the gunman and knocked him over. Dr Rashid was killed but he gave the people time to escape.
Aziz is the man who famously threw an Eftpos machine at the gunman. He had heard the man shooting outside the Linwood Islamic Centre, and saw him going back to his car to get another gun. Aziz ran outside and chased the gunman, and threw an Eftpos machine at him. Then he hid behind some cars, and found an empty gun lying on the ground. He picked up the gun and chased the gunman back to his car. The gunman got in his car and Aziz threw the gun at the car window, breaking the glass. The gunman drove away, and Aziz ran down the street chasing the car.
These two people recieved the highest award, called the New Zealand Cross. There were also four people awarded the New Zealand Bravery Decoration, and four people awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal.
The police who caught the gunman, Scott Carmody and Jim Manning were awarded the Decoration. Ziyaad Shah also received the Decoration because he was shot while using his body to protect another person. Liam Beale was driving past the Al Noor Mosque and stopped to help; he also received a decoration. The four people who received the Bravery Medal; Lance Bradford, Wayne Maley, Mark Miller and Mike Robinson; had helped people while the gunman was still shooting.
Vocabulary:
courage, bravery: ability to act in a fearful situation
Eftpos machine: a machine that you can find in most shops that is used for making payments with a bank card
protect: do something to stop someone/something from being hurt or damaged
escape: get away from danger