The grandmother of a white supremacist gunman reacted with disbelief after learning the 'good boy' she saw last Christmas could have murdered 49 people.
Joyce Tarrant, 94, said the cold-blooded killer who filmed himself calmly gunning down Muslims during Friday prayers was not the grandson she knew.
Self-confessed terrorist Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, faced a New Zealand court on Saturday charged with murder a day after his rampage through two mosques.
Flanked by two much taller armed security officers, Tarrant smiled faintly as he stood behind a small glass barrier which came up just above his eyes, flashing a white supremacist hand sign.
The news of his alleged attacks came as a shock to the family, particularly to Brenton's mother Sharon, who was in class teaching a double-period of English when her son allegedly went on his shooting rampage.
The family's reaction to the massacres come as foreign border authorities reveal they're investigating his travels through Bulgaria, North Korea and Turkey.
After receiving calls from journalists on Friday afternoon, the Maclean High School teacher had to be pulled out of class and told of her son's alleged act.
It is believed that Tarrant's sister Lauren has gone into hiding alongside Sharon after being interviewed by counter-terrorism police on Friday.
Daily Mail Australia witnessed Sharon's pet dog left on the family's front porch near a pair of empty food bowls.
The shooter's family approached police as soon as they recognised his face on TV coverage of the attacks, NSW officers said on Saturday.
His grandmother Joyce said Tarrant visited his family in Grafton, in northern NSW, twice a year, most recently at Christmas.
'It's all very shocking, especially [it being] Brenton, he's a good boy,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'He was always nice and kind and was sure to visit us twice a year.'
Joyce said the whole family was struggling with the news.
'We're just doing the best we can,' she said at the door of her weatherboard house under the huge bridge that links Grafton's north and south.
Joyce said her grandson showed no signs of extremist ideology when she last spoke with him.
Elsewhere in the riverbank town of about 22,000 people, locals were uneasy being at the centre of international attention.
Grafton is famous for its picturesque jacaranda trees, but now also for the evil that grew up there.
'This has put Grafton on the map, but not in a good way. We had enough to worry about,' one local said.
'Tears, shock horror and shame that such evil is associated with not only our country but our home town, another said.
'I feel so terrible for the people and families affected by this evil act of terrorism.'
Tarrant attended a local high school and then worked as a personal trainer at the local Big River Squash and Fitness Centre from 2010.
But following his father Rodney's death after a battle with cancer, he allegedly began to turn towards extremism.
A woman who knew Tarrant through the gym said before his father's death he had never spoken about religion or his beliefs.
'From the conversations we had about life he didn't strike me as someone who had any interest in that or extremist views,' she said.
'But I know he's been travelling since he left Grafton. He has been travelling overseas, anywhere and everywhere.
'I would say it's something in the nature of his travels, something he's been around.
'I know he's been to lots of different countries trying to experience lots of different things in life and I would say something's happened in that time in his travels.'
Prosecutors in Bulgaria have launched a probe into Tarrant's recent visit to the country.
He visited Bulgaria from November 9-15 last year claiming he wanted 'to visit historical sites and study the history of the Balkan country', according to Bulgaria's public prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov.
Tsatsarov said he hoped the inquiry would establish if this was 'correct or if he had other objectives'.
Turkish border authorities are also examining two trips by Tarrant to the country in 2016, CCTV footage capturing him walking through the airport in March, 2016.
A senior Turkish official says Tarrant spent an 'extended period of time in the country' across multiple trips.
He says the suspect may have also traveled on to countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The official says an investigation is underway of 'the suspect's movements and contacts within the country'.
'He was very dedicated to his own training and to training others,' she said. 'He threw himself into his own personal training and then qualified as a trainer and trained others. He was very good.'
'When I say he was dedicated, he was dedicated more than most people would be.
'He was in the gym for long periods of time, lifting heaving weights. He pretty much transformed his body.'
Tarrant faced Christchurch District Court on Saturday morning where he was charged with one count of murder.
Flanked by two much taller armed security officers, Tarrant smiled faintly as he stood behind a small glass barrier which came up just above his eyes.
From behind a glass window he made a white power gesture to those inside the court room.
Police allege that after opening fire inside the Al Noor Mosque Tarrant drove to the Linwood Masjid Mosque across town and continued his rampage.
Short of stature with a stocky build, with thinning hair and beady brown eyes, Tarrant stood squarely in place throughout the entire hearing.
He swivelled his torso around to repeatedly glance at the media, at District Court Judge Paul Kaller and out the windows of the Christchurch District Court.
At the beginning of the hearing he appeared to have a faint smile on his face, but it faded into a neutral expression as the hearing continued.
He has been charged with one count of murder but police say many more charges are expected to be laid when he appears in the High Court on April 5.
The hearing was over within minutes, with Tarrant taking one final look at those gathered and marched away.
Victims' relatives gathered out the front of the courthouse, telling stories of their lost loved ones.
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