Known as the garden city, Christchurch was a soft target for an attack, security experts say

Twenty-four hours after a gunman rampaged through two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch, attention was turning to why this quiet, provincial enclave became the target for New Zealand’s deadliest extremist attack – and what lured the suspect to drive more than 350km north from his home in Dunedin to carry out the attack.

There is dissonance too in the benign atmosphere of Christchurch, “the garden city”, and the grotesque horror that unfolded on Friday afternoon. It was for a long time described as “the most English city outside of England”, with its quaint gardens and picturesque gothic revival architecture. Named after Christ Church, Oxford, the city is bisected by the river Avon and in its centre stood, until the devastating 2011 earthquake, the commanding Christchurch Cathedral. The pace of life is slow, the people modest.

Jacinda Ardern poised to ban semi-automatic weapons as she praises police who arrested terror suspect

New Zealand will ban semi-automatic weapons after the worst mass killing in the nation’s history left 49 people dead and another 48 injured.

As the nation reeled following the terror attack on two mosques in the South Island city of Christchurch, New Zealand attorney general David Parker said the weapons would be outlawed.

In the wake of the worst mass killing in the nation’s history, New Zealanders have rallied around the shocked community

In the silence that wrapped Christchurch after a day of sirens, many struggled to find the language for what had happened to the city.

At a cordon several metres from the mosques where the deadly rampage unfolded on Friday, people came, one by one, to pay their respects. A few shed quiet tears or spoke in hushed tones, but mostly, they just stood and watched.

Mass shootings at two mosques in the New Zealand city left 49 dead and many injured

• Christchurch shootings – latest updates

One or more gunmen attacked two mosques in Christchurch, the largest city in New Zealand’s South Island, killing 49 people during Friday prayers. Three people are in custody and one man has been charged with murder. Police also say they have found explosive devices.