Police in Queensland have shot dead a 22-year-old man after he lunged at officers while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
Raghe Mohamed Abdi, who was on bail after being investigated by a counter-terrorism task force, was killed by police on the Logan Motorway at Drewvale on Thursday morning after cutting off his GPS monitoring device.
Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said police believe there is a direct link between Abdi and an elderly couple that were later found murdered at Parkinson in Brisbane’s south.
Officers discovered the bodies of Maurice and Zoe Antill, aged 87 and 86, at their home on Thursday night after a medical facility notified police at around 3pm that the couple had failed to turn up for an appointment.
According to the Courier Mail, Abdi had an item with him believed to have come from the elderly couple’s home.
“As a consequence of this investigation and we have now gleaned to date we are now treating this matter as a terrorism event,” Ms Linford said.
“I want to stress that nothing else has been uncovered at this point in time that would indicate there are any other persons involved in this terrorism event.”
Ms Linford went on to say: “Further examination of both that scene and the scene of the police shooting yesterday has uncovered for us what we believe to be a direct link between the two matters.
“That link relates to the fact there was an item located that we believe has come from Mr Abdi that we believe has come from the address of the deceased elderly couple.
“And we are also looking into items of property that were located at their address that we believe may be owned by Mr Abdi.”
AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said Abdi had been “influenced” by Islamic State and had previously been stopped from leaving the country.
“In May 2019, the deceased, who we suspect was influenced by Islamic State, attempted to depart Brisbane International Airport for Somalia,” he said.
“He was stopped and arrested on suspicion of an attempted foreign incursion.”
ABC News reports that Abdi was released without charge on that occasion due to insufficient evidence, although his passport was cancelled.
One month later, Abdi was charged with further offences, according to Deputy Commissioner McCartney, including refusing to hand over his passcode to his mobile phone.
“He was remanded in custody when he refused to answer the magistrate or acknowledge the authority of the court,” McCartney said.
Abdi was granted bail in September, on the condition that he wear the GPS tracking device.
Ms Linford said anyone with family living in the Parkinson area should check in on them and make sure they are OK.
She said police have been door knocking overnight.
