The first phase of the coronial inquest into an Auckland supermarket terror attack, formally opens today

Ahamed Samsudeen stabbed six people with a knife at New Lynn Countdown in September 2021, before being shot dead by police.

He'd been released from prison months earlier and was under 24-hour police surveillance.

The hearing's been broken down into three phases.

The first, heard over the next fortnight, addresses the events on the day of the attack.

It's partly driven by survivors wanting to know why officers surveilling Samsudeen weren't inside the supermarket at the time and whether this would've prevented the stabbings.

The other two phases will go over his time reintegrating into the community, and in prison.