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

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 16-year-old boy who was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in Australia’s west coast city of Perth had been involved in a deradicalization program since he detonated a homemade explosive device in a school toilet before the blockade two years, police said on Tuesday.

The boy injured a man with a kitchen knife in a hardware store parking lot 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 knife attacks on a bishop and priest at a Sydney church on April 15 led to a 16-year-old boy being charged with committing a terrorist attack.

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