Alleged Christchurch gunman's actions stun hometown

Those who watched Brenton Tarrant growing up in the sleepy Australian country town of Grafton say they had no inkling of the potential evil he allegedly unleashed in merciless gunfire at two New Zealand mosques that claimed at least 49 lives.

The chief suspect in New Zealand's worst mass shooting in modern history grew up in a modest house in suburban Grafton, a close-knit town of 20,000 on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales state.

Jennifer Huxley, an Australian Broadcasting Corp. reporter, went through Grafton High School six years ahead of Tarrant.

"I've caught up with some of his classmates and they remember him as a bit of a class clown," Huxley said Saturday.

"But staff remember him as a bit of a disruptive student who was prone at times to being quite cruel to his classmates."