Ruairi Kern Taylor (28) - who now goes by the name Rory - served part of his three-year-three-month prison term in an extreme-risk unit in Auckland.
Mr Taylor, whose release conditions initially included barring him from going within 500m of any religious institution, is now attending a mosque targeted by the gunman after his restrictions lapsed three weeks ago.
Linwood Islamic Centre Imam Abdul Lateef said police had advised him to keep tabs on the man’s behaviour but so far there had been no cause for concern.
Mr Taylor has, however, created a stir in the Canterbury hiking community.
He responded to a Facebook post to join a group last weekend on an ascent of Mt Herbert - the tallest peak on Banks Peninsula.
After he made vague disclosures about his criminal history, members of the party searched his name on their return and discovered the truth.
In September 2019, Mr Taylor quit his job, bought a tomahawk and rammed a police car which was stopped beside State Highway 1, 20km southwest of Dunedin.
Wielding the weapon, he chased the constable for 40m, yelling "Allahu Akbar", before returning to the patrol vehicle and causing $30,000 of damage.
He later admitted he was not a practising Muslim and had wanted to behead the officer to provoke police into a lethal response.
The tramping group politely informed him that they must be mindful of the safety of their members and would be removing him from their email list.
"The guy clearly needs good pro-social modelling but our concern is what if he has another psychotic incident in the middle of nowhere and brings a knife or an axe out of his backpack and gets into it?" group member Mike (not his real name) told the Otago Daily Times.
Mr Taylor responded shortly after with a post on a generic hiking Facebook page claiming the group was "openly racist and islamifobic" (sic).
"It was extremely uncomfortable and I would like to warn other Muslims to avoid their hate group," he wrote.
Mike said the group, which featured people of various ethnicities and religious leanings, were silent and respectful when Mr Taylor needed time to pray as they stopped for lunch.
"Our concerns weren’t about Islam," Mike said.
His greater concern at the time was Mr Taylor’s lack of fitness; the group had to repeatedly wait for him to catch up, he said.
He remained concerned the man seemed to be downplaying the severity of his crimes.
Mr Lateef said he had been informed about Mr Taylor’s background from the start but had been impressed with the man’s calm demeanour.
"To condemn somebody because they’ve been in prison, we don’t do that," he said.
"We believe people can change. We all know that ... Whatever happens is for a reason."
Upon leaving prison in December, the Parole Board heard Mr Taylor presented a medium risk of committing serious violence and his most vulnerable period would be in the months after release.
A spokeswoman said police were unable to say whether the former inmate was on any terror-risk watch list but added the number of those being tracked was "low".
"For those who are of interest to police and other agencies, we have solid systems and processes in place to manage individuals that may pose a risk," she said.
Mr Taylor could not be reached for comment.
