LynnMall attacker spoke about ISIS like a sports fan, flatmate says

A former flatmate of a man who attacked customers at a supermarket in Auckland says he would talk about ISIS as if it was a sports team, updating him on victories and new weapons.

Ahamed Samsudeen was shot dead by police at the Woolworths in LynnMall in 2021.

The coronial inquest into his death is examining his path to violent extremism and the time leading up to the attack on 3 September.

For a short period in 2016, the man, who cannot be named, lived with Samsudeen, before he was on the authorities' radar.

He first met Samsudeen in 2014, and said he would talk about ISIS like it was a sports team.

"He was always reporting, it's like the World Cup at the moment, I've got friends who are reporting it to me everyday, all the games," he said.

The witness said Samsudeen would watch ISIS recruitment and fighting videos

"I remember at the mosque, after prayers, we would be in groups, like friends just chatting away, having a talk, and then he would come and he would just bring up the ISIS topic," he said.

"He would find a lull in the conversation and he would bring it up and a lot of people were quite uncomfortable with that topic."

Samsudeen's former flatmate said his talk isolated him from his peers, leaving the future terrorist feeling betrayed and angry.

"He was saying that they weren't true Muslims because they weren't supporting ISIS, they weren't supporting other Muslims being slaughtered," the flatmate said.

During his time flatting with Samsudeen, the man said he could see an escalation in his behaviour.

"I woke up and in the morning once, I think it was like nine or ten AM in the morning, and he was just sitting there with a machete, and I was like, 'woah okay, that's an escalation'."

He did not know what Samsudeen was going to do with the machete, but said he did talk about a parade on Queen Street.

The court also heard a heated exchange between community leader Ikhlaq Kashkari, who worked with the police ahead of Samsudeen's release from prison and the chair of the mosque Samsudeen stayed at prior to his attack, who also cannot be named.

Kashkari was asked if he thought about telling other mosques that Samsudeen was being released from prison.

"If it was appropriate for us to go out to the community, we would have done that," Kashkari said.

"At that point in time we were just in a very initial meeting, I don't see any point us going out to the community and saying 'well we just had discussion on brother Samsudeen', but we actually wanted to get a better understanding [about] what the issue is, and what do they want us to support them with,

"We didn't have that information."

The inquest continues on Friday.