Police are treating an attack at Bourke Street mall in Melbourne in which one person was stabbed to death and two others injured as a terrorist incident.
Police found gas canisters in a vehicle belonging to a man who stabbed three people in a Melbourne knife attack before being shot dead by officers, in an attack that is now being treated as terrorism.
Several news organisations are reporting that Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack, the organisation saying in a statement through their Amaq news agency that the man was one of their “fighters”.
“The one who executed the ramming and stabbing operation in Melbourne (..) is one of the fighters of the Islamic State and he executed the operation in response to (a call) to target the citizens of the coalition,” Amaq said on Friday.
Graham Ashton, the chief commissioner of Victoria police, said the attacker was known to police and federal intelligence agencies. He said firefighters found barbecue-style gas cylinders in the vehicle.
“What we know so far about the individual … from what we know we are treating this as a terrorism incident,” he said. “We believe we have confirmation on the identity [and] there are ongoing investigations being conducted by counter-terrorism [forces]. I am not at liberty to disclose the identity of this person.
“He is known to police, mainly in respect to relatives that he has that are persons of interest to us.”
Ashton said that the knifeman and the three others who were stabbed by him, were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, but he and one of the victims died from their injuries.
The other two victims are still being treated in hospital, but their wounds are not thought to be life-threatening. They are 26 and 58 years old, while the attacker was 31, police said.
