New Lynn terror attack survivors share their stories

Warning: This story contains distressing content that may upset some readers

Seven survivors of the 2021 LynnMall terror attack have shared their stories, and explained how they feel unsupported by the Government.

Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen seriously injured four women and a man on September 3, 2021, while being tailed by members of the police special tactics group.

Another man suffered minor injuries, while another dislocated his shoulder trying to stop the attack.

Samsudeen, who had spent time in prison for possessing Isis propaganda, was shot dead by police within minutes.

Talking to Sunday, survivors Judy Beasley, Ezmeralda Johns, Mike Andrews, Maureen and Steve Brody, Ross Tomlinson, and Susan (last name withheld) spoke in detail about the day of the attack.

On September 3, Auckland was in alert level four lockdown to curb an outbreak of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

All seven would-be survivors were at Countdown LynnMall when Samsudeen entered at 2.28pm. He grabbed a trolley and walked through the supermarket.

Once he reached the frozen section, Samsudeen took a knife from a kitchenware display and removed its packaging.

From 2.28pm to 2.36pm, Samsudeen attacked six people before being shot 12 times by undercover police. He died at the scene.

Preschool Teacher Ezmerelda Johns was stabbed eight times on her stomach, neck and face.

“I do remember, sort of. It was very quick. He stabbed me twice and moved on. I was in disbelief,” she told Sunday.

Judy Beasley was the second person to be attacked.

“He must have come past me, done ‘slash, slash, slash’, but I didn’t realise he’d done it. I kept on walking along,” she said.

After attacking a third person, Samsudeen turned back and attacked Beasley again.

“From my Corrections training I grabbed [Johns’] trolley… I created a triangle for me so the person had to come right over me to do what he did, and that’s when he slashed my back.”

After attacking three other shoppers, Samsudeen returned to Johns and Beasley.

“He came on top of me and stabbed me again, twice… I’ve got two cuts all the way to the back of my neck, and I lost my ear lobe,” Johns said.

Mike Andrews, a stay-at-home dad, and Ross Tomlinson, a former paramedic, heard the commotion and ran towards the scene.

“He was just standing over this body, he was just trying to cut her head off,” Andrews said.

Andrews, Tomlinson and others confronted Samsudeen, trying to distract him, before officers arrived. After refusing to drop his knife, Samsudeen was shot dead.

Johns said she owed Andrews and Tomlinson her life.

“For me, they are the heroes of the day, not only them but the others that helped as well,” she said. “It’s so important for me that they get acknowledged.”

The seven survivors continue to meet, and said they had felt left behind by the ACC system.

Andrews was initially classified as a witness, and went nearly three weeks without support.

“We were involved in a domestic terrorism event, and there has been no specialised policy for protecting those who didn’t get injured, but were psychologically affected,” Andrews said.

Johns had been unable to return to work, and had her wage supplemented by ACC, but only up to 80%.

Maureen Brody said ACC was not fit for purpose.

The survivors wanted a separate entity set up from ACC, to provide support for victims of terror attacks as well as their families.