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Australian police have said they have shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia’s capital Perth, in an attack authorities said had indicated terrorism.
There were signs the 16-year-old, who was armed with a kitchen knife, had been radicalised online, state authorities said, adding that they received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the attack.
The attack, in the suburb of Willetton late last night, had “hallmarks” of terrorism but was yet to be declared a terrorist act, police said.
“At this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone,” Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said in a televised news conference in Perth, regarding the attacker.
The “middle-aged” man who had been stabbed was in a “serious” but stable condition and appeared to be doing well, the police commissioner said.
The man had suffered a single, “possibly” two centimetre stab wound that may have punctured a lung, he said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the incident by police and intelligence agencies, which advised there was no ongoing threat.
“We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia,” Mr Albanese said on social media platform X.
My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the incident in the Perth suburb of Willetton overnight.
I have spoken with WA Premier Roger Cook this morning, and I thank the WA Police for acting swiftly to contain the incident.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 5, 2024
Police believe the teenager sent “relevant messages” to some members of the Muslim community who immediately called police, he said, without giving details of the messages.
The boy had “mental issues but also online radicalisation issues”, the police chief said.
In the past two years, the attacker had been part of a “countering violence extremism programme” for people who show signs of “religious or issues-motivated” concerns, he said.
“It is not a criminal based approach but it is a programme to help individuals who are expressing ideologies that are of concern in our community. But they may not be committing any crimes.”
Police said they did not know what had triggered the attack.
Mr Blanch said it had the “hallmarks” of a terrorist incident but he was not making an official declaration right now as he had no concerns about a wider network being involved.
The incident comes after New South Wales police last month charged several boys with terrorism-related offences investigations following the stabbing of an Assyrian Christian bishop while he was giving a live-streamed sermon in Sydney, on 15 April.
The attack on the bishop came only days after a deadly mass stabbing in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi that claimed the lives of six people.
Gun and knife crime is rare in Australia, which consistently ranks among the safest countries in the world, according to the federal government.
