Police in Western Australia say they have fatally shot a 16-year-old who allegedly stabbed a member of the public in a car park on Saturday.
The incident took place at around 10 am in Willetton, a southern suburb of Perth. When police arrived at the scene, the teen reportedly refused to put down the knife, and charged at the officers.
“There are indications he had been radicalized online,” Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said at a news conference on Sunday. He added that “it appears he acted solely and alone.”
Western Australian Police Commissioner Col Blanch told reporters that the suspect was “a Caucasian male” who had converted to Islam. He reportedly called the police himself, warning that he was about to commit an unspecified “act of violence.”
Shortly afterwards, police received another call, saying a “male with a knife was running around the car park.”
The assailant stabbed a man in his 30s in the back before the officers arrived. The victim has been hospitalized and is in a stable condition.
According to Blanch, the attacker had mental health issues and was undergoing a police deradicalization course. The police chief added that the authorities were alerted by the local Muslim community shortly before the incident.
“[The attacker] posted something online to make them concerned but we believe he sent relevant messages to some of those members who immediately responded by calling the police,” Blanch said.
“My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the incident in the Perth suburb of Willetton overnight,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on X (formerly Twitter). He thanked the police “for acting swiftly to contain the incident.”
“We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia,” Albanese wrote.
The incident in Perth occurred less than a month after a man suffering from mental health problems went on a stabbing rampage inside a shopping mall in Sydney, killing six people and injuring 12.
Also in April, a 16-year-old armed with a knife attacked a Christian church in Wakeley, a suburb of Sydney, injuring its bishop and two worshippers.