An elderly couple in Australia were killed in a “terrorist incident” by a man with his hand who was later shot by police, officials said on Friday.
The bodies of 87-year-old Maurice Anthill and 86-year-old Zoe Anthill were found at their home in Brisbane on Thursday – hours after 22-year-old suspect Raghe Abdi he was killed by the police.
Abdi – who was on bail – threatened police with a knife before being fatally shot on a motorway on the outskirts of Brisbane.
Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford declined to detail how the octogenarian couple died, but said homicide detectives had found evidence that Abdi was in the house.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said Abdi is a well-known extremist acting alone.
“We had no choice but to declare this a terrorist incident,” Carroll told reporters.
The ISIS-influenced killer was arrested in May 2019 on suspicion of trying to join extremists when he tried to leave Brisbane Airport for Somalia.
He was released without charge due to insufficient evidence, but his passport was revoked.
Abdi faced several charges a month later, including refusing to give detectives the access code for his phone.
He was on bail and had to wear a GPS tracking device – which he had cut off before being shot.
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