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Turnbull calls Melbourne crash a 'despicable and cowardly act'
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The Flinders Street crash was an isolated incident and the driver has no known links to extremist groups, the prime minister said on Friday.
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Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Malcolm Turnbull said the 32-year-old man who drove a white SUV into pedestrians at Melbourne’s busiest intersection outside Flinders Street station was an Australian citizen of Afghan descent.
“He came to Australia as a refugee,” he said. “He has a history of serious mental illness and drug abuse. I emphasise, at this stage, because investigations are continuing ... there are no known links to any political issues or any links to extremist groups. I want to stress, there is a mass of material that is being investigated and nothing should be ruled out.
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“Whatever the motivation, this was a despicable and cowardly act, but I want to reassure all Australians that this is an isolated incident. We should continue to go about our daily lives in the way we always do, and that means spending time together with family and friends in public spaces, on the streets of our cities, at sporting stadiums, in parks, going out, doing our Christmas shopping, that is a fundamental part of our lives.”
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The police said earlier on Friday that the driver “attributed some of his activities due to the mistreatment of Muslims”.
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Speaking to ABC news, the acting commander of Victoria police, Shane Patton, said the man was still in police custody in hospital after being injured when he resisted arrest. Patton said the man would probably be formally interviewed on Friday but police had spoken to him on Thursday night.
“During those discussions he made some utterances in respect to a number of matters,” Patton said.
“He spoke of dreams and voices but also attributed some of his activities as well due to the mistreatment of Muslims. Now, obviously, we are continuing to explore this entire incident and trying to ascertain what the motivations are. We haven’t ruled anything in or out and our counter-terrorism command continues to obviously assist crime command in this investigation.
“As I said yesterday, he is a person who is known to have a mental illness. In fact, he was on a mental health treatment plan and missed an appointment yesterday. He has a history of drug use.”
Police had not identified that the man had any extremist connection. The man was known to police, Patton said, but was not on bail or subject to a corrections order at the time of the incident.
Later on Friday morning Patton reiterated that there was nothing to suggest the man had links to terrorism.
“We have nothing to indicate this was a planned attack at this time,” he told reporters.
“The fact that someone simply says this is because of Muslim mistreatment around the world ... given the whole mental health background and drug use ... there is not sufficient evidence here to say this was terrorist event.”
Turnbull said Melbourne’s wide streets with tram lines enabled the driver to pull out of traffic and drive into pedestrians, before slamming into a tram stop. While concrete bollards had been placed around the city to prevent such incidents, he said “you cannot protect every crowded place from every vehicle”.
Patton said 12 people remained in hospital with only one, a man in his 80s, in a critical condition. He said a four-year-old boy who suffered head injuries in the crash was still in hospital and he believed his condition had “improved somewhat”.
A 24-year-old man arrested at the scene after he was seen filming the crash and found to be in possession of knives was interviewed by police on Thursday night before being released. He is expected to be charged on summons with drug and weapon possession offences unrelated to the incident, and police do not believe he had any relationship to the driver.
An off-duty police sergeant who was injured while detaining the driver at the scene was still in hospital and was likely to have an operation on Friday morning for an injury to his hand.
“I’m told he is in good spirits and I hope to speak with him later today,” Patton said.
City of Melbourne acting lord mayor Arron Wood said he was “sickened” by the attack.
“I am so proud of the way Melbourne responded: the heroes on the street, our first responders, our emergency services and how we all took care of each other in whatever way we could,” he said.
“Safety and security is always our number one priority. People should feel safe and confident to come into the city.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and we remain hopeful that all who have been injured will make a full recovery.”
