“Police have given no information on the shooter, who media reports said regularly skipped school to pray at a local mosque.” This presumably is the mosque that authorities raided with permission. Probably the raid focused on whether there were weapons inside, and/or visible signs of ties to the Islamic State or al-Qaeda. Did investigators also look into what is regularly taught at this mosque, and who regularly listens?
“Australia police probe motives of teen gunman,” AFP, October 5, 2015:
SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Monday it was still not clear if the teenager who shot and killed a man outside a police headquarters was a self-motivated “lone-wolf” attacker.
Police have not identified the black-clad assailant who shot 58-year-old finance worker Curtis Cheng in the back of the head outside New South Wales state police headquarters in suburban Sydney on Friday.
This is an odd statement. Earlier stories readily identify him as Farhad Jabar Khalil Mohammad.
The teen, who authorities said was born in Iran of Iraqi and Kurdish background and had no criminal history prior to the incident, was killed in an exchange of fire with police.
“In terms of these so-called lone wolves, it is too early to comment or really for me to say at any rate to what extent this individual who murdered Mr Cheng was self-motivated, self-activated,” Turnbull told reporters.
“There is a lot of work being done to investigate this murder,” said the leader, who on the weekend said the attack “appears to have been an act of terrorism”.
Authorities have searched a mosque the shooter is believed to have attended, and Turnbull stressed that Australian Muslims were the country’s “absolutely necessary partners in combating this type of extremist violence”.
Great. What are they doing to help?
“All of us need to be very aware of the way in which radicalisation can occur … communities at every level, from families all of the way up, should be alert to what young people are doing, what influences are impacting on young people,” he said.
Police have given no information on the shooter, who media reports said regularly skipped school to pray at a local mosque….