Police in New Zealand shot and killed a “violent extremist” after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in an Auckland supermarket.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the incident was a “terrorist attack” carried out by a Sri Lankan national who was under police surveillance.

The man, who has not been identified, was a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, Ms Ardern said.

Police killed the man within 60 seconds of the attack on Friday.

“What happened today was despicable, it was hateful it was wrong,” Ms Ardern said in a news conference. “It was carried out by an individual, not a faith.”

Of the six wounded people, three are in a critical condition and one is in a serious condition, health officials say.

“The hospital staff are doing everything they can to preserve their lives,” the mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff, told the BBC.

“We’re all horrified by what’s happened. But… justice came pretty swiftly for the offender,” he added.

How did the attack unfold?

It took place at the Countdown supermarket at LynnMall in the district of New Lynn on Friday afternoon.

The attacker reportedly took a large knife from a display cabinet in the store and went on a stabbing spree. Police surveillance teams had been close by the entire time.

One witness told news outlet Stuff NZ that the supermarket was a scene of hysteria, and footage shared online showed people fleeing before the sound of gun shots could be heard.

“[People were] running out, hysterically, just screaming, yelling, scared,” the witness said, adding that he saw an elderly man lying on the ground with a stab wound.

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