News Digest

15-year-old terrorist ‘got gun through mosque’ before shooting Australian police worker

The gun used by a 15-year-old to shoot dead a police accountant as he left work is suspected to have been supplied to him by a 'Middle Eastern crime gang’ via a mosque, according to a new report. A known crime figure is believed to have been responsible for the .38 Smith and Wesson ending up in the hands of Farhad Jabar at a Parramatta mosque just hours before he shot and killed 58-year-old Curtis Cheng, the Daily Telegraph reports. Police confirmed the supply of a firearm to the teenage terrorist is central to the investigation of Mr Cheng’s murder outside NSW police headquarters last Friday.

Today’s operation is a clear indication of our determination to actually find out who murdered Curtis Cheng and to take all necessary action that we possibly can.

Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn

Deputy NSW Police Commissioner Catherine Burn confirmed five arrests were made in raids across homes in Sydney’s west from 6am this morning in relation to the fatal shooting of Curtis Cheng, with four people currently in custody. The fifth man, a 24-year-old man from Merrylands, was not detained as part of the operation but was arrested as a result of an outstanding warrant for identity fraud. More than 200 heavily armed officers from the NSW counterterrorism squad, homicide squad and AFP raided houses in Guildford, Wentworthville, Merrylands and Marsfield. One of the homes raided was the same house where Omarjan Azari was arrested in Guildford in September last year over an alleged plot to behead a random member of the public. Azari is charged with conspiring to commit acts in preparation of a terrorist attack.

It’s a very, very serious concern that in the heart of our community there is attack planning that is underway and that may have led to what we saw on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn