Police kill boy after he stabbed a man in Perth in an attack authorities are describing as “terrorism”.
Police in Australia say they shot and killed a boy after he stabbed a man in the western city of Perth. According to authorities, the attack had “characteristics of terrorism.”
There are signs the 16-year-old armed with a kitchen knife had been “radicalized online,” Western Australia’s premier Roger Cook told reporters on Sunday.
The victim, in his 30s, was stabbed in the back in the parking lot of a hardware store in the city’s Willetton suburb on Saturday evening. Authorities said they received calls from concerned members of the local Muslim community before the attack. The man was stabled at a hospital, authorities said.
“At this point it appears that he acted solely and alone,” Cook told a televised news conference in Perth.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the incident by police and intelligence services, who had advised there was no ongoing threat.
“We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia,” Albanese said on X.
My thoughts are with those affected by the incident in the Perth suburb of Willetton overnight.
I spoke to WA Premier Roger Cook this morning and thank WA Police for acting quickly to contain the incident.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 5, 2024
Police said members of the local Muslim community made complaints about the boy’s behavior shortly before the attack, helping to quickly identify him.
On Saturday evening, the teenager apparently called police and said he was going to commit “acts of violence.” Police said they were later alerted by a call from a citizen that a knife attack had occurred in the parking lot.
Three police officers responded, one with a gun and two with Tasers. The Tasers failed to subdue the boy before he was killed by a single shot.
Syed Wadood Janud, the imam of Perth’s largest mosque, Nasir Mosque, condemned the stabbing in a statement.
“There is no place for violence in Islam,” he said. “We appreciate the police’s efforts to keep our communities safe. I would also like to commend the local Muslim community who previously reported the individual to the police.”
Saturday’s incident is the latest in a series of knife attacks in Australia in recent weeks.
Last month, New South Wales police charged several boys with terrorism-related offenses after an Assyrian Christian bishop was stabbed while delivering a livestreamed sermon in Sydney.
The attack on the bishop came just days after a knife attack that killed six people in the Sydney beach suburb of Bondi.
Gun and knife crime is rare in Australia, which the federal government says is consistently among the safest countries in the world.