By Heather McNeill, Hamish Hastie and Rebecca Peppiatt
A “radicalised” teenage boy was shot dead by police following an “extremely confronting” incident in Perth’s southern suburbs on Saturday night.
WA Premier Roger Cook said a 16-year-old boy was shot by a police officer after rushing him with a knife in a Bunnings car park on High Street in Willetton about 10pm.
“A 16-year-old male armed with a knife who had already wounded a member of the public, rushed the attending officers, in response a police officer discharged his firearm fatally wounding the male,” he said.
“There are indications [the teenager] had been radicalised online.
“Members of the WA Muslim community who were concerned by his behaviour contacted police prior to the incident and I thank them for their help.
“Our police responded within minutes, they encountered a very confronting situation but their rapid and professional response kept our community safe.”
Police operation under away amid reports of a knife attack in Perth.Credit: Nine News
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said several people called triple zero concerned about the actions of the teenager, after he indicated he was going to hurt people.
The teen, who was a Caucasian male who had converted to Islam, also called police and told them he was going to commit acts of violence, but did not tell the phone operator who or where he was.
Three minutes after the first triple zero call from a person at the scene, three police officers arrived at the Bunnings car park and found the boy running around with a large kitchen knife. Two officers drew their Tasers, a third drew his firearm and ordered him to drop the weapon.
The teen lunged at two officers, who both deployed their Tasers, however the boy was wearing baggy clothes and was not brought down.
When he lunged at the third police officer, he was shot.
The Bunnings car park where the teenager was fatally shot. Credit: Rebecca Peppiatt
Blanch said the teen had a complex mental health history and was taking part in a rehabilitation program for people who had been radicalised online.
He had been in the program since he was 14.
“We believe he was very much acting alone. We do not believe there was a network involved,” he said.
Blanch declined to declare the event a terror incident.
“If I need extra capability, particularly from the Commonwealth, sometimes you would see a terrorist act be declared very early,” he said.
“Because this is a person acting alone, I don’t need additional capability at this time. Whilst it meets the criteria, or at least the definition [of a terrorist act], that’s something we can work towards as we find out more information from the motivations behind this.
“It would be too early for me to act now because I don’t have the concerns of a broader network that might be involved.”
A man aged in his 30s, not known to the teenager, was stabbed in the back before police arrived. It’s understood the man was exiting a nearby 24-hour gym when he was attacked.
He is in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The Bunnings store has been closed for the day.
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said the community violence extremism program the teenager was taking part in was based on a neo-Nazi program in the Netherlands and focused on de-radicalising people.
“This individual may not have done anything that would have enabled police to do anything other than get him into this program,” he said.
The incident comes weeks after a teenager is alleged to have stabbed a Sydney church leader during a livestreamed sermon.
Official sources briefed on the investigation said the alleged assailant in the church stabbing was part of a loose network of teenagers who communicated on encrypted apps. The federal sources, who were authorised to publicly disclose details of the briefing, said counter-terrorism police believed some members of the group were engaging with radical Islamic material.
Blanch said this type of event in Perth was very rare.
“I know we have seen incidences of it, but we have a very large population in Australia and we don’t see these types of attacks almost ever really,” he said.
“So my message for community is one of assurance. We live in one of the safest places in the world. This is a tragic and sad event … one is too many, but we do live in a safe place.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended his thoughts to the people impacted by the incident in Willetton.
“I have spoken with WA Premier Roger Cook this morning, and I thank the WA Police for acting swiftly to contain the incident,” he said.
“I have also received a briefing on the situation by the ASIO director-general and the AFP commissioner, and 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.”
Cook will hold a meeting with multi-faith community leaders later on Sunday.
The Australian National Imams Council described the incident as “tragic” and said its Perth members “will continue to assist the authorities as required.”
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