A 16-year-old teenager was shot dead by police after he stabbed a man in a car park in the city of Perth on Australia’s west coast, the offence allegedly has the hallmarks of an act of terrorism – CNN.
WA police commissioner Col Blanch said the 16-year-old had carried out the attack in a Perth suburb and the attack “has the hallmarks” of a terrorist act, adding that it “meets the criteria or at least the definition” of this type of crime. Police commissioner added that on Saturday night, local police received a call from a male indicating that “he was going to commit acts of violence.”
Then, the police received another call from a man reporting that a man was running around with a knife. The police immediately responded to the call and three police officers were dispatched to the scene. When the officers arrived on the scene, they were confronted by a teenager who was alone and holding a “large kitchen knife,” Blanche said.
Officers ordered him to put the knife down, but the suspect refused, instead lunging at police. Two stun guns were deployed, and when they were unable to disarm him, a third officer “fired a single shot and fatally wounded the male,” Blanch continued.
After the shooting, police discovered that the teen had stabbed a middle-aged man before his confrontation with police. The victim is currently in hospital in serious but stable condition with a wound to his back.
The teenager was known to the police prior to the incident, Blanch said, as “he was part of a programme about online radicalisation for the last couple of years.” The programme focused on highlighting violent extremism for those who exhibit disturbing behaviour.
Police received numerous calls both before and after the incident from members of Western Australia’s Muslim community who were concerned about the man.
In a statement released on Sunday regarding the incident, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia.”
