A teenager was shot dead by police after he injured another person in a knife attack in Western Australia, authorities announced today, citing evidence that the young man had “radicalized himself on the Internet”.
The 16-year-old teenager, armed with a knife, attacked police and was shot dead by an officer, Western Australian Prime Minister Roger Cook told journalists.
“There is evidence that he has become radicalized on the Internet. But I want to reassure the public, at this stage it appears he acted alone,” Cook added.
The police received a call on Saturday night from a man warning that he was going to commit “acts of violence”, without giving his name or where he was, the head of the state police, Col Blanch, told journalists.
A few minutes later, the official added, police received an emergency call warning that “a man with a knife was fleeing” from a car park in Willetton, in the suburbs of Perth.
According to footage from a police camera, the teenager refused to put down the knife as requested by authorities, Blanch continued.
The agents fired two ‘tasers’ (electric shock weapons), but “neither of them had the intended effect”, he said.
“The man continued to advance towards [an agent] with a firearm, who fired a single shot and mortally wounded” the individual, he said, noting that the teenager ended up dying in the hospital later that night.
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