Abdul Numan Haider ‘may not have been alone’ in Endeavour Hills car park

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/abdul-numan-haider-may-not-have-been-alone

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Abdul Numan Haider, the 18-year-old shot dead by police in Melbourne on Tuesday night, may not have been alone when he stabbed two officers in the car park of the Endeavour Hills police station, according to the Victorian police commissioner.

Ken Lay told ABC radio 774 on Thursday morning that police had “some information” that Haider had been talking to other people around the time of the stabbing.

“I won’t say [they were] working with him, it’s just unclear to us at the moment, whether they dropped him off [at the station] or whether they were waiting for him,” he said.

“That will be clarified in the course of the investigation.

“I feel really uncomfortable talking about this and being defensive and not being able to lay the facts out as I might, but this is complex. It’s very early in the investigation and there are security issues over the top of this as well.

“We just need to work our way through methodically and it may be a while before we can lay out to the community exactly what happened that night.”

His comments come amid a rush of media speculation about Haider’s intentions.

Neither the Australian federal police nor Lay would confirm media reports that Haider had intended to behead the police officers, before covering them with an Isis flag and posting the images online.

Lay told the ABC: “There’s been lots of speculation out there in the last day or so.

“I’m not aware of any evidence that would suggest that is correct. So we’re just quietly and methodically working through the evidence and talking to people associated with this young man to better understand the situation.”

Media reports also claim that Haider had been following the movements of prime minister Tony Abbott online, and that comments originating from Haider were picked up in an intelligence sweep of chatter about potential threats to Parliament House. Those claims could not be verified through official police channels.

A media spokesman for the Australian federal police would only say to Guardian Australia on Thursday morning that “no specific threats” had been made by Haider.

The comments were echoed by Lay, who told the ABC that he could not confirm information that suggested Haider had been monitoring Abbott.

Police had been to Haider’s house earlier on the day he was killed, Lay said, but had not executed an official search warrant. Those who knew Haider told Guardian Australia on Wednesday he had become increasingly agitated after police cancelled his passport one week prior to the stabbings.