Police search Parramatta mosque gunman allegedly visited before shooting

[umbertino]

Mosque chairman says detectives did not find anything during inspection on Saturday and that his mosque is ‘not open for criminal activity’

 

 

Guardian staff with agencies

 

Sunday 4 October 2015 06.09 BST

 

 

 

Police have searched the mosque visited by the Sydney teenager who allegedly shot dead New South Wales police employee Curtis Cheng outside Parramatta headquarters on Friday, before being killed in a firefight with police.

 

Video footage from Seven News shows black-clad 15-year-old Farhad Jabar Khalil Mohammad pacing outside the Charles Street police complex moments after shooting Cheng at point-blank range from behind. The 58-year-old accountant was a 17-year veteran of the NSW police finance department.

 

Farhad can be seen waving a handgun and firing at three special constables, tasked with protecting the police station, who went outside when they heard gunshots. The video then cuts to Farhad lying at the bottom of the entry ramp, dead.

 

The NSW premier, Mike Baird, and police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, paid a personal visit to Cheng’s family over the weekend to express their condolences.

 

Cheng’s wife, Selina, son, Alpha, and daughter, Zilvia, released a statement on Sunday remembering him as “a kind, gentle, and loving person”.

 

“He was humorous, generous of heart, and always put the family first,” the statement said. “He has set a tremendous example for us as a family.

 

“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken that he has been taken from us, but we are truly grateful for the fruitful and happy life he has shared with us.”

 

Farhad was born in Iran of Iraqi-Kurdish descent. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that he attended Arthur Phillip High School, just around the corner from the police headquarters.

 

On Friday afternoon, Farhad left school and headed west to the Parramatta mosque on Marsden Street. He apparently changed clothes there before making the 10-minute return walk east to the police headquarters.

 

Police searched the mosque on Saturday.

 

Neil El-Kadomi, the chairman of the Parramatta mosque, told Guardian Australia he received a call from police about 7.30pm and went to the mosque to let a group of detectives in.

 

“They ring me, I went there, they searched, but they didn’t find anything,” El-Kadomi said. “We support the police, we work with the police, the police were happy with our support.”

 

El-Kadomi said Farhad had been to the mosque a few times but was not a member of their community. He said the mosque was “unconnected” to Farhad’s actions, saying, “we condemn it.”

 

“He is not known to us,” El-Kadomi said. “He is a boy, alone, comes sometimes to pray. A very, very limited time. And then what he did is not accepted.”

 

Public social media profiles believed to belong to Farhad have been silent for a few years, but earlier posts paint a picture of an ordinary Australian teenager.

 

A Twitter account that appears to be Farhad’s dates from in April 2013, and was apparently used for the sole purpose of following reality TV talent show The Voice. The account followed eight people, all, with the exception of actor Hugh Jackman, connected to the show. Its final tweet, dated May 28, 2013, reads “Miami is the best”.

 

The NSW police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said on Saturday that police had “no information that this individual posed this type of threat.”

 

Scipione said Farhad’s “exact motivation still remains a mystery to us,” but that “we believe his actions were politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism.”

 

He said there was no information, at that early stage in the investigation, to suggest that Farhad’s “was doing anything but acting alone”. Police still don’t know how he got a handgun.

 

Scipione said it appears Cheng was targeted just because he walked out of the police station. “He was a much-loved man, [he had] been with us a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone have a bad word about Curtis and he will be missed,” he said.

 

The ABC has reported that police identified Farhad after his older brother, who had heard the news, called and said it might be him. The same report, quoting unnamed senior police sources, says that Farhad’s sister went missing from the family’s North Parramatta apartment on Thursday and apparently caught a Singapore Airlines flight to Instanbul.

 

Scipione said it was important to separate Farhad’s actions from his faith.

 

“First and foremost, simply because a certain person is of the Muslim faith doesn’t mean that they are a terrorist,” he said. “We shouldn’t be treating entire communities like they are all suspects because that’s simply not the case. This is a small, small, small minority.”

 

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, had a phone conference with the premier of NSW Mike Baird, Scipione, and seven or eight Muslim leaders on Saturday to discuss the shooting.

 

One of those leaders was Dr Jamal Rifi, a Sydney GP and prominent member of the Lebanese Muslim community. He told AAP the phone call signaled a critical mood shift in Australia’s response to incidents like this.

 

“Before, we felt that as a community we were fighting radicalisation with our hands tied behind our back and with this telephone conversation, where the prime minister listened to every member of that teleconference, we felt that the shackles came off,” he said. “The mood right now has shifted. It’s not about blame it’s about solution.”

 

 

1 2

Police in Parramatta after a shooting that left two dead on Friday.

Photograph: Lucy Hughes Jones/AAP

 

 

2 2

The NSW premier Mike Baird and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.

Photograph: David Moir/EPA

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/04/police-search-parramatta-mosque-gunman-allegedly-visited-before-shooting

 

[BigJake]

I thought that guns were banned in Australia.  How could he have one!  I guess that shows that banning or confiscating guns does not work, once again.  Prayers for the family!

[divemaster5734]

The police have been under attack since oidiot came to power.

Just have also been not only Christians, but every other human with the self-respect and integrity to work for their living and uphold a moral perspective.

 

Since telling the truth concerning the muslim evil is not allowed in the lame stream media, they are making that exact statement by their actions.

 

Now, with over 200,000 middle east "refugees" coming soon to America, the overt acts of violence against us are only barely getting started.

 

If I were you, I'd probably cultivate a friendship with any police that may live in your neighborhood if you haven't already.

 

Aside from being some of the most sincere, decent, and dedicated humans alive, they might just save your butt one day.

 

Besides, you might just discover you have a lot in common, and actually make a new friend.

[dog53]

+1 dive   At 200,000 even if only 5% was infiltrators

Thats  10,000 killers on the loose thats gonna kill

women, children, the old, Hell they will probably kill the family dog .

 

Not a good time to take away my guns berry.

Something tells me I`m gonna be needing them. 

 

Hows that gun control working out for you Aussies ?

Not so good huh 

Edited October 4, 2015 by dog53

[new york kevin]

Ditto fellow dinarians.