A 16-year-old boy is in custody on Tuesday after the attack at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley overnight where Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed as the incident was broadcast on the church’s live stream.
At least two police officers have been injured as large crowds clashed with authorities following the stabbing.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she had declared the incident a “terrorist act” as the boy allegedly made comments as he launched the attack.
Extremism expert Josh Roose says by declaring the incident a terrorist act immediately, police allow themselves the resources “to really explore this thoroughly”. Roose states that it will activate “an array of wider powers” to look into the extent to which the individual was acting alone.
Joint counterterrorism team investigating attack
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was “no place” for extremism in Australia.
“Last night, a 16-year-old who has been apprehended was accused of stabbing a bishop at Christ The Good Shepherd church in Wakeley. This is a disturbing incident,” he said.
“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.”
Albanese, flanked by ASIO director-general Mike Burgess and AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw, said there had been a national security committee meeting this morning to discuss the attack, which has been declared a terror incident.
“Can I say that we understand the distress and concerns that are there in the community, particularly after the tragic event at Bondi Junction on Saturday. But it’s not acceptable to impede and injure police doing their duty, or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night,” Albanese said.
Independent MP Dai Le, whose federal electorate of Fowler includes Wakeley, said she feared the declaration of terrorism would fuel fear in the community.
“I’m not exaggerating, I feel sick in the stomach that the Premier has done that. But I hope he has a good reason to do this,” she said on ABC News Breakfast.
Earlier she said the church in Wakeley is one of seven Assyrian churches that are much loved in the community.
Tragic scenes
The live-stream footage showed a person dressed in black approach and the proceed to stab Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel multiple times to the head and upper body at the altar as parishioners then ran to the bishop’s aid.
“We’ll allege there’s a degree of premeditation on the basis 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,” Police Commissioner Webb said adding “They’re lucky to be alive.”
Wakeley Church appeals for calm
The church said Bishop Emmanuel and a senior priest were in a stable condition and also appealed for calm.
Dear brothers & Sisters,
Our beloved Bishop, His grace Mar Mari Emmanuel, and Father Isaac have been admitted to hospital. They are in a stable condition.
We ask for your prayers at this time. it is the Bishop’s and Father’s wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator. We also kindly ask anyone at the Church premises to leave in peace, as out Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, teaches us.
Thank you
Statement by Christ the Good Shepherd Church on social media
Following the incident, a crowd continued to build outside the church and “a public order incident response developed requiring police from all regions across Sydney”.
Holland said more than 100 police officers and 30 police vehicles attended and the suspect was later removed from the church.
Two police officers were taken to hospital after being injured by members of the crowd who broke into “a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at the police”.
Premier Chris Minns urged the community to not retaliate and asserted in his statement towards the people involved in the riot outside the church that – “There is no such thing in Australia in taking the law into your own hands. It doesn’t exist. You will be met by the full force of the law if there’s any attempt of tit-for-tat violence in Sydney over the coming days.”
