A 16-year-old boy shot dead by police after stabbing a person in Perth, Western Australia had been in a deradicalisation programme however had no hyperlinks to an alleged community of youth extremists in Sydney, authorities stated.
The boy had participated in the federally funded Countering Violent Extremism programme for 2 years however had no legal report, Western Australia Police Minister Paul Papalia stated on Monday.
“The challenge we confront with people like the 16-year-old in this incident is that he’s known to hold views that are dangerous and potentially he could be radicalised,” Papalia stated. “But the problem with individuals like this is they can act at short notice without warning and be very dangerous.”
On the potential for the boy to have been radicalised, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was involved by social media pushing excessive positions.
“It’s a dynamic that isn’t just an issue for Government. It’s an issue for our entire society, whether it be violent extremism, misogyny and violence against women. It is an issue that of course I’m concerned about.”
Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch stated the boy had phoned police late Saturday saying he was about to commit “acts of violence” however didn’t say the place. Minutes later, a member of the general public reported to police seeing the boy with a knife in a ironmongery shop carpark.
Three law enforcement officials responded, one armed with a gun and two with stun weapons. Police used each stun weapons however they didn’t incapacitate the boy earlier than he was killed by a single gunshot, Blanch stated.
The stabbing sufferer is a person in his 30s who was wounded in his again. He was in severe however secure situation at a Perth hospital, police stated.
Blanch stated members of the Muslim neighborhood had raised considerations with police concerning the boy’s behaviour earlier than his dying.
The boy had stated in a textual content message to associates, “I am going on the path of jihad tonight for the sake of Allah,” Australian Associated Press reported, prompting a number of to alert police.
Police stated the stabbing had the hallmarks of a terrorist assault however haven’t declared it as such. Factors that may affect that call embody whether or not state police want federal sources, together with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation home spy company.
Blanch stated the Western Australia Police investigation didn’t want further federal sources and he was assured the state of affairs was completely different from the one in Sydney.
“We are dealing with complex issues, both mental health issues but also online radicalisation issues,” Blanch stated on Sunday. “But we believe he very much is acting alone and we do not have concerns at this time that there is an ongoing network or other concerns that might have been seen over in Sydney.”
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook stated his Government and the state training division had been conscious of considerations on the boy’s faculty about his behaviour. Cook didn’t instantly reply to reviews that a number of boys at Rossmoyne Senior High School, the distinguished faculty he attended, have been trying to radicalise classmates.
“I’ll leave that up the Education Department to clarify,” Cook informed reporters. “This young man was harbouring some extremist thoughts, which is the reason why he was part of the Countering Violent Extremism programme.”
Amanda Spencer-Teo, a dad or mum of a Rossmoyne pupil, stated a number of “red flags” had been raised concerning the behaviour of some college students.
“Parents have been raising this with the school for some time,” Spencer-Teo, who will probably be an opposition social gathering candidate at state elections subsequent yr, informed the Australian newspaper. “The school and the department have failed to provide information to those concerned parents.”
After an assault at a Sydney church on April 15, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb declared the stabbings of an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest as a terrorist act inside hours. A boy arrested was later charged with committing a terrorist act. In the next investigation, six more teenagers have been charged with terror-related offences.
Police alleged all seven have been a part of a community that “adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology”.
Some Muslim leaders have criticised Australian police for declaring the church stabbing a terrorist act however not a rampage two days earlier in a Sydney shopping mall in which six folks have been killed and a dozen wounded.
The 40-year-old mall attacker, who was shot dead by police, had a historical past of schizophrenia and many of the victims he focused have been ladies. Police have but to disclose the person’s motive.