Australian Broadcasting Corporation (via AP)
A 16-year-old boy with a knife was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in a parking lot in Perth, a city on Australia’s west coast, authorities said Sunday.
CNN
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Australian police have shot and killed a teenage boy after he stabbed a man who was injured in an attack that had “characteristics” of terrorism, authorities said.
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said the boy, described as a 16-year-old white male, was armed with a knife when he carried out the attack in the Perth suburb.
Washington State Police Commissioner John Branch said the attack “had the hallmarks” of an act of terrorism, adding that it “meets the criteria, or at least the definition”, for this type of crime.
Branch said local police received a call Saturday night from a man who said he was going to commit violence.
A few minutes later, police received another call about a man running around with a knife, Branch continued. Police immediately responded to the call and three officers were dispatched.
When officers arrived at the scene, they were confronted by a boy who was alone and armed with a “large kitchen knife,” Branch said.
Officers ordered the suspect to put down the knife, but he refused and ran toward police. Two Tasers were deployed, and when they failed to subdue the man, the third officer “fired a single shot, fatally wounding the man,” Branch continued.
After the shooting, police discovered that the boy had stabbed and injured a middle-aged man before confronting police.
Branch said the victim is currently in hospital with injuries to his back in serious but stable condition.
Mr Branch said the boy was known to police before the incident and had “participated in online radicalization programs for the past several years”.
“We are dealing with a complex issue regarding this 16-year-old man, which includes not only mental health issues, but also online radicalization issues,” Branch said.
Branch said the show focused on bringing violent extremism to people who engage in problematic behavior.
Mr Branch said police received several calls before and after the incident from members of Western Australia’s Muslim community who had concerns about the man.
“I really want to thank the members of the Muslim community for doing that, because it allowed us to quickly identify who this person was and respond as follows. ” [quickly] Just like we did,” Branch said.
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.”
The incident comes after a priest and a bishop were stabbed to death at a Sydney church last month. Police arrested a 16-year-old boy in the attack as an act of terrorism.
