Over 9000 miles away from New Zealand, the murder of Muslim worshippers in the town of Christchurch had resonance in one of the Bronx’s Muslim communities.

A killer who expressed white supremacist beliefs targeted two mosques full of congregants during Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand and appears to have live streamed himself shooting dozens of people. The anti-Muslim attack, in which a reported 49 people were murdered, was deeply felt worldwide—including in Norwood, home to a significant Muslim community.

“We are just praying for everybody,” said Mohammed Shuaib Uddin, a pharmacist at the People’s Pharmacy in Norwood. “As a human being, we know we are not forever in this world. We should live peacefully and die naturally, not like this.”

While the killings rattled the community, many were also angry at the way the events had been reported in the media and were being discussed by the public.

“People are calling him a shooter and not calling him a terrorist,” said a local teenager whose name is being withheld. “People use the word terrorist for muslims, but if they’re non-Muslim, they don’t call him a terrorist.”

New York City is no stranger to violence against Muslims. In August 2016, an imam and his assistant were shot at point-blank range while walking home from the mosque in Ozone Park, Queens.

Norwood’s two masjids, or mosques—one on Perry Avenue, and another space on East 206th street—remained open for prayer on Friday, despite the possible risks. There was no police parked outside at the East 206th Street mosque, unlike other mosques that had seen a more prominent police presence. 

“They are continuing,” said a Norwood resident who identified herself as Ms. Ahmed. “It is not to stop. They are continuing doing their prayer.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.