Australian couple killed in ‘terrorism incident’ by ‘known extremist’

I found this in the Telegraph (the British version); the local Australian newspapers have more information and this in the Warmambool Standard  and the Daily Telegraph (the Australian newspaper)  are not behind a paywall

Australian detectives suspect the deaths of an elderly couple in their Brisbane home is a “terrorism incident” perpetrated by a knife-wielding man who was shot dead by police, officials said on Friday.

Raghe Abdi, 22, threatened police with a knife before he was shot dead on a highway on the outskirts of Brisbane on Thursday morning, officers said. Officers said the 22-year-old shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ and came at them with a knife before they open fired.

The bodies of an 87-year-old man and an 86-year-old woman were found in their home later on Thursday near where Abdi died, Queensland state Police Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said. Ms Linfold declined to detail how they had died but homicide detectives had found evidence that Abdi had been in the house, she said.

Police were first alerted to an issue when Mr Abdi’s tracking device sent out a signal to say it had been tampered with. It was later found discarded in bushland near the elderly couple’s house.

She said police only checked on the elderly couple (nine hours after Abdi was shot by the police)  after they had received a call about them missing a medical appointment. After finding the couple dead, police then searched and doorknocked nearby houses as a precautionary measure.

Abdi’s property was found at couple’s home, and items belonging to them were also found on him after he was shot dead. “As a consequence of this investigation, and what we have now gleaned to date, we are treating this matter as a terrorism event,” Commissioner Linford told reporters…” because the shooting indicated he wanted to harm police, and as a result of his links to the double murder. When you put all those things together I think it’s pretty clear that we need to treat this as a terrorism event, and as such, we’ll make sure that we have that lens over what would normally be a homicide investigation,” she said.

 “If you have family living in that Parkinson area it would be a good time to check in on them and make sure that they’re okay,”

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the known extremist had been acting alone.

The AFP suspect Abdi had been influenced by al-Shabab when he was arrested on suspicion of an attempted foreign incursion while trying to depart Brisbane Airport for Somalia in May 2019. He was released without charge due to insufficient evidence but had his passport cancelled. In June 2019, he was charged with further offences including refusing to give the passcode for his phone. According to Sky News there is also evidence of support for Islamic State. 

Earlier, Mr Abdi’s lawyer called on authorities to release evidence that he was an Islamic State sympathiser, saying the police PR machine has gone into overdrive. 

Mr Adbi‘s lawyer and president of the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, Terry O’Gorman, told NewsWire there was no substantiated evidence that he was an IS sympathiser when he fronted court.

He said claims made in The Courier-Mail that bodycam footage showed Mr Abdi yelling “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for God is Great, should be released.“The was absolutely no evidence put forward about the allegations (that he was an IS sympathiser) …”

He urged authorities to stop the “deplorable practice” of vilifying people killed by police.
“His family have asked me to particularly get the message out that Raghe was not in any way connected with terrorism – Raghe yesterday clearly suffered a serious mental health event,” said O’Gorman. 

The Courier Mail is behind a paywall. The Courier Mail also has this headline behind their paywall  Police fear more murder victims of ‘lone wolf terrorist’.

Above, the Courier Mail also has this more widely distributed copy of Abdi’s school photograph.  If there is any substance to the suspicion I am sure it will be more widely reported elsewhere.