Melbourne terror attack plotters compiled weapons, bomb-making equipment
The failed terror plotters stockpiled a deadly toolkit they hoped would inflict maximum carnage. And in a bid to thwart detection they a terrifying inventory of weapons and bomb-making equipment from big-name stores.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The failed terror plotters stockpiled a deadly toolkit they hoped would inflict maximum carnage.
And in a bid to thwart detection they gathered everything they needed from big-name stores: Bunnings, Chemist Warehouse and Boating Camping Fishing.
From those stores, the men compiled a terrifying inventory of weapons and bomb-making equipment arousing little suspicion.
TERROR PLOTTERS LAUGH AS GUILTY VERDICT DELIVERED
SPECIAL FEATURE: MAKING OF HOMEGROWN TERRORIST
The day before their arrest, Ibrahim Abbas and Abdullah Chaarani went to a BCF store in Coburg to purchase two 18-inch machetes.
They lied about why they wanted the knives, telling the store attendant they were keen hunters. In reality, the machetes would play a key role in their terror plot, with Abbas later telling police he planned on “chopping to kill”.
He and his three stooge mates had just a day earlier been to Federation Square to plan their attack.
They would ram a police officer, take his gun, start shooting, then randomly attack innocent civilians with the machetes. They wanted to kill as many people as possible before blowing themselves up with the explosive devices they were wearing.
They had bought taps and pipe from Bunnings and hydrogen peroxide from Chemist Warehouse. Abbas said he and Ahmed Mohamed also worked to extract gunpowder from other materials he had bought at Bunnings “and use that material … as an explosive substance to create a bomb”.
He had used his garage as a bomb-making factory.
“It was done mostly at my place, but I don’t remember the full completion. We never completed a bomb … making one.”
Raids on their homes on the day of their arrest uncovered the terrifying toolkit. The bulk of it was at Chaarani’s — electrical wires, metal taps, a machete, boxes of matches and chemicals.
Hydrogen peroxide, acetone and other chemicals were found at Mohamed’s house, as well as electrical cable and nails.
They had downloaded a bomb-making guide, and watched a step-by-step Islamic State instructional video.
They drove to country Victoria to test their handiwork.
A chemist and explosive expert testified that there was no doubt the items seized could have been used in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices.
But Abbas later told police he and his mates were too stupid to make one work.