A 20-year-old Werribee man has been arrested in a counter-terrorism raid after police uncovered an alleged plot to shoot and kill as many people as possible at Federation Square on New Year’s Eve.
The man was arrested at his home address in Werribee at 3pm yesterday by the Special Operations Group as part of Operation San Jose, which has been monitoring the “high risk” male since the beginning of this year.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said the Australian-born man, who was born to Somali parents, is believed to have unsuccessfully tried to obtain an automatic rifle to carry out the attack.
He is currently being interviewed by police in relation to offences of act in preparation to commit a terrorist attack and collecting documents to facilitate a terrorist act, and is expected to be charged once the interview process has concluded. One of the charges he is facing carries a penalty of life in prison.
“What we will be alleging is that he intended to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could in the Federation Square area on New Years’ Eve,” Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
“This male did not access a firearm, I think it’s very important that I provide that reassurance to the public.
“He’s accessed documents produced by Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula, which is a guidebook in respect to how to commit a terrorist act, and also how to use firearms.
“The arrest means that this threat has been removed. We’re quite confident that there’s no risk, or no threat, to the Victorian community now that we have removed him from society and he’s being interviewed.”
The Special Operation Group executed three search warrants at his Werribee residential address, a Footscray computer business where he had worked part-time and a Meadow Heights address associated with him yesterday.
The Footscray and Meadow Heights searches have already been completed, but police are still searching his Werribee home, where he lives with his parents and siblings.
“Understanding who had what knowledge, and who may or may not have been involved is one of the key aspects that we have to deal with in respect to this investigation, so that’s still very much an open question that we’re exploring in respect to his family and friends and relatives,” Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
Police believe the man is associated with other people in the Victorian extremist community, but he is believed to be acting alone in this plot.
Deputy Commissioner Patton would not disclose how the man became a person of interest, but said more than 200 police across Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had been involved in the investigation.
