14-year-old boy arrested for stabbing at Sydney University

Counter-terrorism police are investigating the stabbing of a student on Sydney university grounds.

Transcript

00:00Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy after he allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old man in

00:06the neck at the University of Sydney in Camperdown this morning.

00:10The man, who was a student at the institution, was treated at the scene, before being taken

00:14to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

00:18The 14-year-old boy fled the scene, boarding a bus and presenting himself to the same hospital

00:23with cuts to his hand moments later.

00:26Police say he was known to both the Federal and the NSW Police prior to the incident,

00:30but did not know, and was not known, to the victim.

00:33The AFP and NSW Police are conducting a joint investigation into the incident.

00:38Police Commissioner Mark Walton says they are investigating if the incident was an act

00:42of terrorism, and spoke of the threat posed by the internet to the safety of the broader

00:46community.

00:47There's no doubt, nationally and internationally, the toxic nature of the internet is influencing

00:53young people.

00:54Particularly young people.

00:55Over the last five years, we've seen the cohort of young people, 12 to 16, really emerge in

01:03counter-terrorism investigations.

01:05Tragically, sometimes we see them end up in an event.

01:11Most of the time, we're able to disrupt those young people, divert them into programs, hopefully

01:18have parents, teachers, medical professionals involved in ensuring that they don't move

01:23to violence.

01:24But, I can absolutely assure you, there is a risk of online radicalisation.

01:30Police say that the boy appeared to have unclear or mixed motivation, but declared with certainty

01:35that there was no religious motivation behind the incident.

01:38He also said that the attack had no clear link to broader movements or ideologies, and

01:43that there was no ongoing threat to the community.