15-year-old arrested over knife attack on bishop

The arrest of a 15-year-old boy in Australia in connection with a knife attack on a bishop and his followers at an Orthodox Assyrian church in Sydney has been declared a “terrorist” act by police, who suspect religious extremism as the motivation.

During a service at Christ The Good Shepherd Church on Monday evening, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest were wounded in the assault, which was livestreamed. Both victims are expected to recover.

Police arrested the teenager at the scene and were forced to hold him at the church for his own safety as an angry crowd of the bishop’s followers gathered outside.

The crowd went on to clash with the police for more than three hours, demanding that the attacker be handed over to them.

Emergency crews said they treated 30 people for riot-related injuries.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said the suspect’s comments pointed to a religious motive for the attack.

“We’ll allege there’s a degree of premeditation on the basis that this person has travelled to that location, which is not near his residential address, he has travelled with a knife and subsequently the bishop and the priest have been stabbed,” Webb said. “They’re lucky to be alive.”

She added, “After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident.”

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the nation’s main domestic spy agency, and Australian Federal Police have joined state police in a counterterrorism task force to investigate whether anyone else was involved.

Mike Burgess, the director-general of ASIO, in rare public comments said that the boy appeared to have acted alone and there was no immediate need to raise the country’s terror threat level.

“At this stage, it looks like the actions of an individual,” he said. “At this point, there is no indication of anyone else involved, but that remains an open investigation.”

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