Sydney church stabbing treated as ‘terrorist act’

Australian police have declared Monday’s stabbing at a Sydney church a religiously motivated “terrorist act”.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested after a bishop, a priest and churchgoers were attacked at a sermon at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church.

At least four people suffered “non-life-threatening” injuries, police say. The attacker was also hurt.

The incident was captured on a church livestream and quickly triggered unrest in the suburb of Wakeley.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Assyrian Orthodox Church – about 35km south-west of the city centre – and clashed with police. Two officers were injured, one with a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and fence paling. Twenty police vehicles were also damaged, with 10 left unusable.

The violence similarly left paramedics retreating for cover in the church, where they were “holed up” there for more than three hours.

Speaking to media on Tuesday morning, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the bishop and priest were undergoing surgery and are “lucky to be alive”. Investigations are still underway, but police are satisfied it was a case of religious extremism, she said.

The bishop has been named by local media as Mar Mari Emmanuel. Ordained in 2011, he is seen as a popular and controversial figure and his sermons have received millions of views on social media.

The teenager allegedly made comments to the bishop as he approached which were “centred around religion”, and police believe staging the attack during a livestreamed service was intended to be “intimidating not only [to] the parishioners in attendance, but those parishioners who were watching online”.

Commissioner Webb said the suspect was acting alone, and while “known to police”, he was not on any terror watch list.

The alleged offender has also been in surgery after his fingers were injured, police said, but it is unclear if he sustained injuries with his own weapon or when he was apprehended by the congregation.

The incident came only days after the nation was shocked by a separate and unrelated stabbing at a popular Sydney shopping centre, which left seven people dead.

The head of Australian intelligence, Mike Burgess, explained during a press briefing on Tuesday why this particular case has been determined to be a terrorist attack.”Simple answer is to call it a terrorist act you need indications of, well, information or evidence that suggest actually the motivation was religiously motivated or ideologically motivated,” Mr Burgess says.

“In the case of Saturday [the mall attack], that was not the case. In this case, the information we have and the police have before us, indicates that is strongly the case.”

“NSW is on edge and there’s understandable community anxiety at the moment,” said state premier Chris Minns. He appealed for calm, echoing calls from religious and community leaders.

“Their message to their communities was universal and identical, and that is that they deplore violence in all forms, [and] that they have faith in the NSW Police to undertake their investigation,” Mr Minns said.

A strike force has also been assembled to investigate the riot, Ms Webb said. “Those involved in the riot can expect a knock at the door… We will find you and we will come and arrest you,” she added.

The head of the NSW Ambulance also called the behaviour from crowds “outrageous”.

“Our people, that do nothing but go to care and help every single day, need to know that they’ve got the support of the community. If they don’t… who will come and do these jobs?”