A 71-year-old man died Friday during shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, after he reportedly threw himself in front of other victims to shield them from gunfire.
NBC News reports that Daoud Nabi, 71, was killed during Friday’s attacks targeting Muslims worshipping at two Islamic centers in the city. He was among an estimated 49 people killed during the attack.
{mosads}His son, Omar Nabi, told NBC that his father was often helping others and that he was not surprised to learn of his father’s heroic efforts to save bystanders.
“He’s helped everyone who’s a refugee,” Nabi said of his father’s work with Muslim immigrants in New Zealand.
“Whether you’re from Palestine, Iraq, Syria — he’s been the first person to hold his hand up,” his son added.
Authorities have charged one person with murder for the attacks and have detained several other in connection with the investigation. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the shootings an act of right-wing terror in a statement early Friday.
“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Ardern said, adding that the attack would go down as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”