SYDNEY – Australian police are investigating a stabbing at a Sydney church as a terrorist attack, after a 16-year-old boy injured two people and made comments during the incident, said New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Tuesday.
The incident took place at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, western Sydney, on Monday evening where the boy was apprehended by members of the public and later arrested by the police. He remains in the hospital under police guard after undergoing surgery for injuries sustained during the alleged attack.
Webb stated that the boy’s comments led to the declaration of the incident as a terrorist act. Additionally, she mentioned that a large crowd gathered outside the church during the police response, resulting in projectiles being thrown at officers, causing injuries.
The stabbing occurred just two days after a separate incident at a Sydney shopping centre where six people were killed and many were injured. Police clarified that the shopping centre attack was not terror-related, as the perpetrator was suffering from poor mental health. The motive behind the church stabbing is currently under investigation.
