New Zealand Mosque attack: Gunman charged with murder, sent to police custody till April 5

New Delhi : The 28-year-old suspected gunman in the New Zealand twin mosque attack has been charged with murder, sent to police custody till April 5. At least 49 people were killed and over 20 were injured in the terror attack.

The terror-suspect who live streamed the attack for over 16 minutes is an Australian citizen and is a resident of Dunedin, situated around 360 km south of Christchurch.

He was presented before the Christchurch court with murder charges, in white prison clothing, barefoot and handcuffed. Flanked by two police officers, he smirked when media persons photographed him during the hearing and was seen making the white power gesture, New Zealand Herald reported.

Throughout the hearing in the court, the suspected man did not say a word and kept looking at the journalists present in the court room.

Brenton Tarrant is accused of murdering a man, whose name was suppressed by Judge Paul Kellar on grounds of undue hardship to his family, according to reports.

It was "reasonable to assume" Brenton Tarrant would face further murder charges, Judge Kellar said.

The suspect was then remanded to police custody without plea till April 5.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed that gun laws "will change" in the wake of the worst terror attacks in the country''s history.

She also confirmed that the suspect was a resident of Dunedin and was not based in Christchurch. She said that investigations were initiated to assess whether the remaining two accused arrested were directly involved in the attack.