SYDNEY, Dec 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Australian police said Friday they were
treating the murder of an elderly couple in their Brisbane home as a
terrorism incident.
Police linked the murders to Raghe Mohamed Abdi, who had previously been
investigated by counter-terrorism police, after he was shot dead in a
confrontation with officers on a Brisbane highway Thursday morning.
The 22-year-old was shot after he threatened officers with a knife, police
said.
That afternoon, police said they were called to a nearby address for a
welfare check and discovered the bodies of an 87-year-old man and 86-year-old
woman.
“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,” Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford
said in a press conference Friday.
An item allegedly discovered on Abdi was believed to be taken from the
deceased couple’s home, while several items at the home were linked to the
man, Linford added.
The combination of the Abdi’s past, his alleged attempt to harm police and
the link to the murder scene made it “pretty clear that we need to treat this
as a terrorism event”, she said.
The exact motivation of the killings remain unclear, Linford added.
Abdi had previously been detained after attempting to fly to Somalia in
2019 — where police alleged he aimed to join a terrorist organisation — and
had removed a tracking device before Thursday’s incident.
But his lawyer, speaking before the link to the murder investigation was
made public, told national broadcaster ABC that the police were incorrect to
connect him with terrorism and labelled yesterday’s shooting as a
“significant adverse mental health event”.
“When he was going to Somalia to visit relatives, he was held for 18 hours
and investigated as to whether he was going to Somalia as a foreign fighter,”
Terry O’Gorman said.
“There was no evidence to justify holding him and 18 months later, he has
never been charged with that offence.”
Abdi was never charged with terrorism offences and was instead on bail for
other charges, police said.