Police have shot dead a 16-year-old boy, feared as a terrorist, after he stabbed a man in Perth, Australia. Authorities say they believe the teenager may have been radicalised online
Police have shot dead a 16-year-old boy after he stabbed a man in the back in Australia. Officers say the attack suggested terrorism.
According to police, there were signs the boy had been radicalised online. Concerned members of the Muslim community had called the police before the attack, at around 10pm on Saturday in the suburb of Willetton, Perth – which state authorities said had the “hallmarks” of terrorism.
Shortly before the attack, the boy had first called police to warn them he was going to commit violence, but didn’t say where or who he was. A 30-year-old man was then stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife and three police officers were sent to the scene after a call from the public, reports Sky News Australia.
Two officers drew their Tasers, while another drew a firearm. They ordered the teenager to put down his weapon, but when he refused to, he was shot.
Local reports suggest the boy was already known to police, had “mental health and radicalisation issues”, and was in a deradicalisation programme. Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said: “at this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone”. Authorities said the victim remains in a stable condition in hospital.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed by police and intelligence agencies, and was advised there was no ongoing threat. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia.”
It comes after New South Wales police last month charged several boys with terrorism-related offences, following investigations into the stabbing of an Assyrian Christian bishop who was giving a live-streamed sermon in Sydney. The attack on the bishop took place days after a deadly mass stabbing in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi that left six people dead.
This is a breaking news story. Follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage.