Brenton Tarrant

Brenton Harrison Tarrant (born 27 October 1990), a white Australian man, was 28 years old at the time of the shootings. He grew up in Grafton, New South Wales, where he attended Grafton High School. After Tarrant's parents separated when he was young, his mother's subsequent boyfriend abused her and the children. He worked as a personal trainer in his hometown from 2009 to 2011, quitting after an injury; in that time, he inherited A$457,000 from his father, who committed suicide in 2010. In 2015, he took a trip to Ukraine and came into contact with extreme right-wing groups.

Brenton Tarrant
Born	Brenton Harrison Tarrant (1990-10-27) October 27, 1990 Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Personal trainer
Motive	Far-right extremism Islamophobia[1] White supremacy[2] Belief in the White genocide conspiracy theory Ecofascism[3]
Criminal charge	51 counts of murder 40 counts of attempted murder One count of engaging in a terrorist act
Penalty	Life imprisonment
Details
Weapons	Two AR-15 style rifles Mossberg 930 semi-automatic shotgun Remington 870 pump action shotgun Uberti Lever action rifle Mossberg Predator bolt-action rifle
Date apprehended	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)

At the time of the shootings, Tarrant had been living in Andersons Bay in Dunedin since 2017. He was a member of a South Otago gun club, where he practised shooting at its range. A neighbour described him as a friendly loner. In 2018, Tarrant was treated for eye and thigh injuries at Dunedin Hospital; he told doctors he had sustained the injuries while trying to dislodge an improperly chambered bullet from a gun. The doctors also treated him for steroid abuse, but never reported Tarrant's visit to the authorities, which would have resulted in police reassessing his fitness to hold a gun licence