An Australian boy killed by police had been in a de-radicalization program since the explosion at a school

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 16 year old boy The police spokesman who was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in Australia’s west coast city of Perth had been taking part in a de-radicalization program since he detonated a homemade explosive device in a school toilet block two years ago, police said on Tuesday .

The Boy had injured a man He was shot with a kitchen knife in the parking lot of a hardware store on Saturday evening before police killed him with a single shot. The boy had told his colleagues in a text message: “For the sake of Allah, I am embarking on the path of jihad this evening.”

It was the third high-profile knife crime to shock Australia in recent weeks, after two Assyrian Orthodox clergy were injured in a Sydney church and a shooting rampage at a Sydney shopping center left six people dead and another dozen injured.

Western Australia Police Commissioner Colonel Blanch said the boy killed in Perth had been a voluntary participant in the government-funded Countering Violent Extremism program since 2022, when he caused an explosion in a toilet at Rossmoyne Senior High School, which he attended. The boy was treated for mental health problems and extremist tendencies.

“Participating in a CVE program automatically means we have concerns about his behavior and mindset,” Blanch told Perth Radio 6PR.

“This is really important and very successful, but unfortunately it’s not perfect,” Blanch added.

In recent days, a social media video has been published in the news media showing the noise and flashes of an explosion in a toilet and boys fleeing the scene.

The state Education Department said no one was injured and no damage was caused by the explosion. All proper protocols were followed with the then 14-year-old student due to concerns about extremism, the department said in a statement.

Police investigated the explosion, but the boy was not charged, authorities said.

Police had a visible presence around the school Tuesday to calm the community after social media alerted parents that a student had threatened further violence, Blanch said.

The warning came from a hacked social media account, Blanch said.

He urged the school community to contact police if they have concerns rather than sharing those concerns on social media.

“Sending messages and stoking people’s fears at a time of great stress is not going to help anyone,” Blanch said.

However, Western Australia police had found no links between the Perth boy and a suspected network of youth extremists in the east coast city of Sydney.

The stabbing of a bishop and priest in a Sydney church April 15th resulted in a 16-year-old boy being charged with a terrorist act.

During the subsequent examination six other teenagers were charged with terrorist offenses.

Police alleged all seven were part of a network that “adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology.”

Some Muslim leaders have criticized Australian police for declaring the church stabbing two days earlier a terrorist attack rather than a shooting spree Sydney shopping center Six people were killed and a dozen injured.

The 40-year-old attacker who was shot dead by police had a history of schizophrenia and most of the victims he targeted were women. Police have not yet released any information about the man’s motive.

Blanch said the three police officers’ quick response to the Perth incident saved lives.

“We’ve seen what someone with a knife can do in a populated area,” Blanch said, referring to the April 13 shooting at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center.