Bourke Street killer was not national security threat, says AFP

Melbourne terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali’s family reportedly in “unbelievable shock” as anti-Islam rally gets under way in CBD.

Australian Federal Police national manager of counter-terrorism Ian McCartney in Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: AAP

An anti-Islam rally and counter rally have traded barbs in central Melbourne before dispersing from opposite sides of Bourke Street where a deadly terror attack took place.

On one side members of the Australian Liberty Alliance addressed a small crowd about the dangers of Islam - the religion of the knife-wielding terrorist who stabbed three men, killing local shop owner Sisto Malaspina.

“Our political leaders have no courage whatsoever and we are getting sacrificed for the sake of political correctness,” ALA president Debbie Robinson said.

Prominent ALA figure Avi Yemeni lashed out at the “mainstream media” for using terms like “lone wolf” and “mental illness” to describe terrorists.

“Stop exploiting a tragedy for your agenda,” yelled a smaller number of counter protesters from across the road.

“Stop dividing us.

“Now is not the time for nationalism.”

The police presence was strong given the small numbers on each side, as officers stood in lines on either side, forming a barrier between the groups.

Police have described the terror attack as a “wake-up call” after revealing the man behind it had links to Islamic State.

Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, who killed an elderly cafe owner, stabbed two others with a knife and blew up a ute, had his passport cancelled in 2015 after trying to travel to Syria but was not being actively monitored.

“The event yesterday for us is a reality check, even with the fall of the Caliphate... the threat continues to be real,” Australian Federal Police national manager of counter-terrorism Ian McCartney said..

Police talk to a woman near a roadblock during a raid in Meadow Heights linked to the Bourke Street attack. Picture Jay Town

Homes linked to Shire Ali in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs were raided and an immam who claimed to know the attacker’s family said they were stunned by the events of the past 24 hours.

“They were in shock, unbelievable shock,” Imam Isse Musse told Fairfax.

“They shared the pain of the victim — that victim had a family too ... the two families are sharing in the grief and pain.”

Mr McCartney said Shire Ali, 30, was known to police for his radical views but had not been deemed to be a serious threat.

Beloved Melbourne cafe owner Sisto Malaspina was today named as the man stabbed to death by Shire Ali.

He said police knew of family connections to radicalism but they now believed the broader threat was over after Shire Ali was fatally shot at close range by a policeman in Melbourne on Friday afternoon.

The policeman had been on the job for just three months but was hailed by his superiors for his role in ending the attack.

Mr McCartney said police would be examining what was known, and when, about the threat level posed by Shire Ali.

“He was not being actively monitored,’’ he said.

Mr McCartney said Shire Ali had been radicalised and “inspired’’ by fundamentalism.

“He did not pose a threat in relation to the national security environment,’’ he said.

Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton speaks to the media as Premier Daniel Andrews listens on Friday. Picture: Getty Images)

Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton today named Shire Ali as the killer who went on the knife rampage.

Mr Ashton also said the dead stabbing victim was aged 74, with the other two victims recovering in hospital.

He revealed that Shire Ali had used a crude, unsophisticated car bomb involving gas bottles in the vehicle that had been turned on when the four wheel drive was set alight.

“It certainly wasn’t anything remotely sophisticated,’’ Mr Ashton said.

Police raided two houses today in Melbourne’s west and north in a bid to determine whether more people were involved in the plot, the third major vehicle-based tragedy to strike the city’s CBD in less than two years.

Police said they were relatives of the killer or friends but the immediate terrorism threat was over.

Police have linked Shire Ali with terrorism, both personally and via family, but said they had now located his wife and that she was not considered missing. They would not say whether she was co-operating with investigators.

Police said Shire Ali was born in Somalia and came to Australia in the 1980s or 1990s.

Police raided one home in Werribee in Melbourne’s west, which was linked to Shire Ali.

It was an unremarkable 1980s-era brick home with three Toyota cars. The second house was at Meadow Heights, in Melbourne’s north.

The killer was one of 300 people on the terrorism watch list, with the Victorian counter-terrorism command leading the investigation.

Police today increased security at major events.

One of the stabbing victims was named as retired Tasmanian businessman Rod Patterson, 58, who was believed to be recovering in hospital.

Launceston businessman and Bourke Street stabbing victim Rod Patterson.

His wife Maree Patterson said on Facebook: “Unfortunately, we got caught up in the attack in Bourke St this afternoon and Rodney was hurt — good news he is in a great hospital and doing OK given the circumstances — can’t take calls at the moment but will speak to everyone when I can,’’ she reportedly wrote.

The dead victim has been identified by the Herald Sun as a co-owner of the long-established coffee house Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar, Sisto Malaspina. He died at the scene after being stabbed by Shire Ali and a 26-year-old was taken to hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Meanwhile, police reassessed major public events over the weekend in light of the terror attack.

Mr Ashton said yesterday that Flemington Stakes Day, soccer matches at AAMI Park and Remembrance Day would be attended by more police than originally planned.

with AAP

The vehicle on fire in Bourke Street. Picture: @chrismacheras/Twitter