New South Wales police are treating the alleged stabbing of a bishop during the live stream of a mass in western Sydney as a terrorist attack.
The premier, Chris Minns, said the decision was taken early on Tuesday morning and validated by the police minister.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said a strike force had been established to investigate last night’s incident
“This is a major and serious criminal investigation,” Minns said on Tuesday.
“It is crucial that New South Wales police are able to devote their resources and intelligence as well as officers to the investigation of this crime.”
Hundreds of people clashed with police in western Sydney on Monday night after a prominent Orthodox Christian leader was allegedly stabbed at the altar of his church.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying mass at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd church in Wakeley just after 7pm on Monday when the alleged attack took place.
A live stream of the mass on the church’s website showed a person approaching the altar who then appeared to stab toward the bishop’s head multiple times. Three other people were also injured in the alleged attack.
Police and ambulance crews responded shortly afterwards, and police arrested the alleged offender, who they understand to be 16 years old.
A crowd of people then “converged on that area and began to turn on police”, Webb said. Police estimate the crowd grew from 50 people to approximately 500.
“People used what was available to them in the area, including bricks, concrete palings, to assault police, and throw missiles at police and police equipment, and police vehicles.”
Some police officers were injured and taken to hospital overnight, while 20 police vehicles were damaged and 10 rendered unusable, Webb said.
“That is unacceptable and those that were involved in that riot can expect a knock at the door. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But we’ll find you and we’ll come and arrest you. That is totally unacceptable.”
Dominic Morgan, commissioner for NSW Ambulance, said 30 patients had been assessed and treated overnight, with seven taken to hospital, around 20 of them having been affected by capsicum spray.
The bishop and the priest, who were stabbed, were in surgery on Tuesday morning.
Paramedics had come “directly under threat” and had to retreat into the church during the riot, with six of them stuck in the church for three and a half hours, Morgan said.
The decision to designate the stabbing incident a terrorist attack was made in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Minns said, validated by the police minister at 1.45am and the premier himself notified at 2am.
Webb said the legislative definition of a terrorist act was satisfied in that police believed the act was religious-motivated extremism and involved intimidation of the public through that act – partly due to the fact that the service was being livestreamed.
The alleged offender had not previously been on any terror watch list.
A joint counter-terrorism team were investigating, including members of the Australian federal police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) and New South Wales police.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described the Wakeley incident as “very distressing” and “extremely concerning”.
Albanese repeatedly declined to state the religion of the alleged offender.
“It’s a really good idea if politicians don’t lead this information disclosure,” he told ABC Melbourne. “It’s a really good idea if police and authorities do, when things are confirmed.
“There’s been a declaration of a terror incident, which means it is ideologically motivated.”
In a press conference on Tuesday morning, Albanese called for community cohesion in the wake of the incident, and expressed his sympathies to the Assyrian community in Western Sydney.
“This is a disturbing incident. There is no place for violence in our community. There’s no place for violent extremism. We’re a peace-loving nation. This is a time to unite, not divide, as a community, and as a country,” he said.
“We have overwhelmingly a harmonious society in Australia. In my local community, people of different faith live side by side. And that is overwhelmingly the experience of Australians. It is vital in my view that we continue to stress what unites us, and that respect for each other be maintained at all times.”
Albanese warned it is “completely not acceptable” to damage or impede police vehicles, as occurred after the incident.
A separate strike force, called Dribs, had been established to investigate the riot, and additional police would be patrolling Sydney in response.
The incident comes just days after another man, Joel Cauchi, killed six people and injured others, some critically, in a stabbing spree at a Westfield shopping centre in the Sydney suburb of Bondi Junction. Investigators do not believe Cauchi’s attack was terrorism related.
Minns called for community calm on Tuesday.
“I understand, coming just days after the criminal activities in Bondi Junction, Sydney and New South Wales is on edge and there’s understandable community anxiety at the moment. However, it’s crucially important the police are able to conduct their inquiries and finish their investigation,” Minns said.
Minns said any further violence would be diverting resources away from the investigation of the incident.
“I want to make something very, very clear – there’s no such thing in Australia as taking the law into your own hands. It doesn’t exist. That’s for several reasons. Firstly, you will be met by the full force of the law, if there’s any attempt for tit-for-tat violence in Sydney over the coming days.
“Lastly and perhaps most importantly, every religious leader representing communities across Western Sydney has expressly said don’t do it, and implored the community to come together to express faith and hope in the New South Wales police, and ensure that we remain united during these difficult days.”