‘Radicalised’ teenager shot dead by police after stabbing man in the back in Australia

Police have confirmed there were ‘indications’ that he had been radicalised online

The incident occurred in a car park in Willetton in Perth, Australia (AP)

A 16-year-old boy armed with a knife was shot dead by police after he stabbed a man in the Australian city of Perth.

Police were called on Saturday night by the teenager, who threatened violence before stabbing a man in the car park of a hardware store in Willerton.

Police commissioner Col Blanch told reporters that the incident had “hallmarks of terrorism”.

Local authorities said that concerns had been raised about the boy’s behaviour within the local Muslim community.

He was shot dead after Tasers failed to subdue him and he lunged towards officers while armed with a knife.

Western Australia premier Roger Cook said: “There are indications he had been radicalised online. But I want to reassure the community, at this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone.”

Western Australia premier Roger Cook said there were indications the boy had been radicalised online (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A man in his thirties was found at the scene with a stab wound to his back and remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

At the time of the incident, the teenager had been participating in a programme for young people at risk of radicalisation.

“I don’t want to say he has been radicalised or is radicalised, because I think that forms part of the investigation,” Western Australia’s police commissioner Col Blanch said.

While police officers received a call from the boy at 10pm in which he threatened to carry out a violent act, they were unaware of his location. They were later alerted by a phone call from a member of the public that a knife attack was underway in the parking lot.

Three officers were deployed to the scene, one armed with a gun and two armed with Tasers. He was later killed by a single gunshot wound after failing to comply with the officers’ instructions.

Western Australia’s police commissioner Col Blanch speaks at a press conference in Perth, Australia on Sunday (AP)

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the stabbing in Perth, and added: “I’m advised there is no ongoing threat to the community on the information available. We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia.”

The Imam of Perth’s largest mosque, the Nasir Mosque, condemned the stabbing.

“There is no place for violence in Islam,” Imam Syed Wadood Janud said in a statement.

“We appreciate the effort of the police to keep our communities safe. I also want to commend the local Muslim community who had flagged the individual prior with the police,” he added.

Some Muslim leaders have criticised Australian police for declaring last month’s church stabbing a terrorist act but not a rampage two days earlier in a Sydney shopping mall in which six people were killed and a dozen wounded. The 40-year-old attacker in the mall attack was shot dead by police, who have yet to reveal the man’s motive.

The church attack is only the third to be classified by Australian authorities as a terrorist act since 2018.

In December 2022, three Christian fundamentalists shot dead two police officers and a bystander in an ambush near the community of Wieambilla in Queensland state. The shooters were later killed by police.

In November 2018, a Somalia-born Muslim stabbed three pedestrians in downtown Melbourne, killing one, before police shot him dead.