The New Zealand Bravery Star:
AL-UMARI, Mr Hussein (Posthumous)
Deceased 15 March 2019, Christchurch
Citation
On Friday 15 March 2019, Mr Hussein Al-Umari attended afternoon prayer at the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue in Christchurch. He entered the main prayer room just before 1.30pm, greeting fellow worshipers and commencing his prayer near the front row.
Shortly before 1.40pm, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic shotguns and assault rifles, with several hundred rounds of ammunition, commenced an attack on the Al Noor Mosque. The gunman entered the Mosque, and made his way to the main prayer room, shooting people in the main entranceway and along the corridor.
The congregation attempted to flee from the gunman as he came down the corridor and into the main prayer room. Most of the congregation fled to the sides of the prayer room. Several people directly in line of the corridor were shot. Mr Al-Umari, hearing the shots turned around to face the gunman. He stood up and walked purposefully in the direction of the corridor. At this time, the gunman had turned in the corridor to shoot into the adjacent library room. Mr Al-Umari yelled at the gunman and moved towards a second door where the main prayer room adjoined the library, following the direction of the gunman’s shots while the other worshippers were moving away towards exits.
Mr Al-Umari entered the library, encountering no one inside, as the gunman had continued into the main prayer room. Instead of moving through the library towards an exit, Mr Al-Umari returned into the main prayer room. At this time the gunman had begun shooting worshippers in the main prayer room. Mr Al-Umari turned to face the gunman as he entered, at this time being the only person standing on his side of the room, as others tried to flee or take cover. The gunman shot Mr Al-Umari and he fell to the floor.
While the gunman was focused on worshippers around Mr Al-Umari, another worshipper from the other side of the prayer room ran over and tackled the gunman from behind, knocking him to the ground. In challenging the gunman, Mr Al-Umari drew attention away from others who were able to flee. Mr Al-Umari’s selfless actions demonstrated outstanding bravery, at the cost of his life.
The New Zealand Bravery Star:
FUENZALIDA, Mr Jorge Roberto
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 10 May 2021, a man with a short kitchen knife in each hand attacked a staff member at a supermarket in central Dunedin, causing multiple wounds as she tried to defend herself. Several shoppers and staff in the busy supermarket attempted to restrain the offender during his frenzied attack, which occurred in little over a minute, with four people in total sustaining stab wounds.
Mr Jorge Fuenzalida, a Corrections officer, was shopping with his wife, Ms Vanessa Miller-Andrews, at the time of the incident. They heard a scream and went to investigate. They discovered the offender struggling with two staff members and moved to assist. One of the staff members was stabbed several times. During the struggle, Mr Fuenzalida used both hands to try to get the offender to drop one of the knives, not realising the offender had a knife in his other hand. Mr Fuenzalida was stabbed with the other knife and thrown to the ground, breaking his wrist.
Ms Miller-Andrews tried to drag Mr Fuenzalida away and was grabbed by the offender, who stabbed her twice. The offender then approached Mr Fuenzalida on the floor and stabbed him, before returning to Ms Miller-Andrews and stabbing her again. Mr Fuenzalida, despite his injuries, crawled over to intervene, receiving a further stab wound. While the offender continued to attack Mr Fuenzalida, two off-duty Police officers and other members of the public intervened to restrain the offender. Mr Fuenzalida had become entangled in the offender’s legs during the struggle and was dragged away by one of the off-duty officers. Uniformed Police then arrived to arrest the offender.
Mr Fuenzalida demonstrated outstanding bravery by intervening in the struggle and attempting to disarm the offender. Mr Fuenzalida continued to try to prevent harm to others in the struggle after sustaining life-threatening injuries as a result of his actions.
The New Zealand Bravery Star:
WILSON, Mr Dallas Kerry
Citation
Mid-afternoon on 10 May 2021, a man with a short kitchen knife in each hand attacked a staff member at a supermarket in central Dunedin, causing multiple wounds as she tried to defend herself. Several shoppers and staff in the busy supermarket attempted to restrain the offender during his frenzied attack, which occurred in little over a minute, with four people in total sustaining stab wounds.
Mr Dallas Wilson was a supervisor at the supermarket working nearby at the time of the attack. Mr Wilson was the first to intervene while the offender was attacking the staff member, running over to pull the offender away, holding him around the upper body from behind. As Mr Wilson struggled to hold the offender, a further staff member and another member of the public attempted to assist. In the struggle the offender broke free and stabbed Mr Wilson several times. Mr Wilson realised he could no longer restrain the offender and was losing strength. He staggered away from the struggle before collapsing from his wounds near the checkouts, where he was later given first aid. The offender was restrained by further shoppers until Police arrived.
Mr Wilson demonstrated outstanding bravery by going to his colleague’s aid and attempting to restrain the offender, receiving life-threatening injuries as a result of his actions.