Perth: Australian police shoot boy, 16, armed with knife dead

Police in Western Australia said they received a call late on Saturday from the teenager who had warned them he intended to commit “acts of violence”.

Police commissioner Col Branch told a press conference that within minutes another emergency call was received alerting officers that a “male with a knife was running around the car park” in Willetton, a southern suburb of Perth.

Three officers arrived and found a 16-year-old armed with a long kitchen knife.

The first two officers fired their Tasers but when the teenager continued to approach, the third officer fired a single shot which killed the 16-year-old, the commissioner said.

The teenager was described as a person with “complex issues” who had been involved for several years in an anti-radicalisation programme intended to counter extremist ideologies.

Commissioner Blanch said the incident had the “hallmarks” of terrorism but he was not declaring this as a terrorist attack at this stage.

He also thanked members of the Muslim community who were concerned by his behaviour prior to the incident and had alerted police.