Officers who stopped Christchurch gunman get bravery award

Two police officers who captured and arrested the man accused of killing 51 people at Christchurch mosques in March have been honoured.

In a private ceremony, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern handed the bravery awards to the officers, whose identity a court has ordered not to be revealed pending the trial, for risking their lives.

After the attacking two mosques, the suspect was heading to a third mosque when the officers managed to ram his car off the road and took him into custody.

"All officers wonder how they would respond when faced with a split-second decision to risk their lives," Chris Cahill, the president of the New Zealand Police Association, said in a statement.

"These two officers have answered that question by responding with outstanding bravery, which protected many others from further harm."

In a statement, the officers said: "In doing our job, we represented all police staff around the country who put themselves in harm's way every day".