00:00Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about this incident.
00:06What we do know now is that the 16-year-old boy was fatally shot by police after allegedly
00:11stabbing a man in his 30s in Willerton on Saturday night.
00:17That man is still recovering in hospital.
00:20We don't know what triggered that incident or what were the motivations behind the boy's
00:24attack, which is believed to be a random attack.
00:26What we do know is that the boy was known to police and that he had complex mental health
00:31issues, as well as online radicalization issues.
00:34The police minister, Paul Papalia, said the boy had been part of the Countering Violent
00:39Extremism program for the past two years, since he was 14 years old.
00:43He was among more than 140 people who were part of that national program that is designed
00:49to help and deal with people who are at risk of being radicalized online.
00:54The premier, Roger Cook, also said that boy was a voluntary participant of the program
01:00and that there were support services in place to try to help him, but ultimately he reached
01:05a tipping point.
01:07The police minister reiterated that the 16-year-old was acting alone and that there is no ongoing
01:13threat to the community and no third parties believed to be involved.
01:17He wanted to reassure the community that there was no ongoing threat and that it is safe
01:22here in WA.
01:23WA police are conducting a thorough investigation of the incident to understand what might have
01:28triggered this.
01:29The police minister said that he acknowledged that the national program was not guaranteed
01:35to be successful, as was in this case.
01:38He said that it was a tough gig to try and change people's views.
01:42This is a little bit about what he had to say about that.
01:44The challenge we confront with people like the 16-year-old in this incident is that he's
01:52known to hold views that are dangerous and potentially he could be radicalized.
01:58He'd been engaged in a program, the Countering Violent Extremism program, for two years.
02:05But the problem with individuals like this is they can act at short notice without warning
02:09and be very dangerous.
02:13And parents and students at the boy's school to Barrack have expressed their shock of the
02:18incident.
02:19That's right, Ross.
02:20Though the boy hasn't been formally identified, it has been confirmed that he was a student
02:25at Rossmoor Senior High School, which is a leading public high school here in Perth.
02:29The principal of that school, Alan Brown, released a statement yesterday afternoon and
02:33said his sympathies were with the boy's friends and families and that support would be available
02:39to students and parents if needed.
02:42The premier was also asked this morning if parents had expressed concerns about the boy.
02:48He said that a letter was forwarded to the Minister of Education, which was then forwarded
02:53to the Department of Education for further action.
02:56And he said the department was managing the boy from then.
02:59He said that it's not clear who wrote the letter, but he said people had expressed concerns
03:06and worries.
03:07However, he said police could not interfere as the boy had not committed any crimes.
03:12He also said the government and police were providing extra support at the school and
03:16said that there was heightened anxiety and tensions within the community and that support
03:21would be there if needed.
03:23There has been shock and disbelief from both the parents and the students at the school,
03:28as you mentioned earlier.
03:29And this is what one mother had to say.
03:31As a community, I'm very, very sad.
03:34My children were sad.
03:35They couldn't sleep or they couldn't study, like, yesterday whole day.
03:42And I don't know what we can do about this.
03:45It was clearly a very shocking incident for the community, who are still reeling and say
03:51they're still on alert and that they are fearful, as they thought it was a very safe environment
03:56and a safe community to be in.
03:58The WA Muslim community have also condemned the attack and say that this is now a time
04:03for the community to come together to tackle the issue of radicalization.
