Malaysian minister says terror suspect who killed two police officers acted on his own initiative

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The young man who attacked a Malaysian police station and killed two officers was a recluse and believed he was acting on his own despite suspected ties to the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, the country’s interior minister said Saturday .

The man stormed a police station in the southern state of Johor near Singapore with a machete in the early hours of Friday morning. He hacked a police officer to death and then used the dead officer’s gun to kill another. He injured a third officer before being shot. Police initially said the man may have been trying to steal firearms from the station.

Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Based on the initial investigation, it called it a “lone wolf attack” and said there was no danger to the general public.

“We determined that the attacker acted of his own volition… a lone wolf driven by a specific motivation and his own understanding,” Saifuddin said. “His action is unrelated to any larger mission.”

Police said the man’s father was a known member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian terror network linked to al-Qaeda, and they found materials linked to the group in their home. Seven people, including the man’s parents and three siblings, were arrested and police were searching for about 20 Jemaah Islamiyah members in the state.

The incident sparked concerns about a possible greater terror threat and prompted Singapore to warn its citizens to be vigilant when traveling to Johor.

Police initially said the attacker was 34 years old, but Saifudin said he was 21 and had no criminal record. He said the man didn’t interact much with his neighbors or his family. The man’s motive is still being investigated, he added.

Jemaah Islamiyah, designated a terrorist group by the United States and banned in Indonesia, is widely blamed for attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia, including the bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists . The group has been significantly weakened by security measures in the region.