By Michael Genovese and Jamie Freestone
Students and staff at Rossmoyne Senior High School will be provided with support following the police shooting of one of their schoolfellows in Perth, principal Alan Brown said on Sunday as he informed the student body.
He wrote to parents and carers to inform them “with great sadness” that a young person from the school had died.
The scene in Willetton.Credit: Nine News Perth
“We acknowledge and respect the family’s right to privacy. Our thoughts and sympathies are with them and their friends during this difficult time,” he said, adding that support would be provided for as long as necessary.
Police shot dead a teenager armed with a “30-centimetre kitchen knife” in a Bunnings car park in Willetton on Saturday night.
Police say the boy had been radicalised online before he stabbed a stranger, a man in his 30s, in the back.
Police Commissioner Col Blanch said there were complex issues involved, including mental health issues and online radicalisation. Blanch spoke to New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb on Sunday, to talk about how she handled the aftermath of the recent mass killing in Bondi, and then the further knife attack on a priest during a service.
Police say the teenager called 000 just after 10pm Saturday, telling the operator he was going to commit acts of violence.
Shortly afterwards a member of the public called emergency services after seeing someone running around the car park with a knife.
Three officers arrived at the scene within three minutes.
Witness John Chi said he saw the teenager chasing a police car in the parking lot.
“When he was running towards the police car he was holding [the knife] up in the air,” he said.
Witness John Chi.Credit: Nine News Perth
The man stabbed is in stable condition in the state trauma unit at Royal Perth Hospital with a possible punctured lung.
The teenager shot had been on authorities’ radar by the age of 14. He was placed into a program for people vulnerable to violent extremist views and behaviours.
Blanch said he was one of seven youths and almost a dozen adults currently being monitored in WA by the Countering Violent Extremism Program which runs nationwide to address people expressing concerning ideologies, who may not have committed a crime.
“Often it’s police referral,” he said.
“We might come across that person in the community and see behaviours that we’re concerned about, and other people in the community can refer them.
“It’s not about criminals or police … an early intervention program run by health practitioners, psychologists, educators, and faith leaders.”
Dr Anne Aly, Federal Youth Minister, has contributed to the program.
“De-radicalisation programs are an important community safety measure,” she said.
“They are often successful, but no program can guarantee success. It’s the sensitive nature of these programs that we often only hear about them when they don’t succeed.”
According to the Department of Home Affairs, once a person is referred for intervention, they are assessed to determine their risk of engaging in extremist violence and whether they are a threat to themselves and/or others. Individuals are then case managed and referred to specialists.
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