Police corden off the area around a police station in the Merrylands neighbourhood area of Sydney on July 21, 2016.
A man was arrested in Sydney on July 21 and a bomb disposal squad was examining his car after he drove it into an underground police station car park. / AFP / SAEED KHAN (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
A man was arrested after he crashed a car laden with gas bottles into an Australian police station, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
The man, who suffered serious burns but is still alive, started himself on fire before driving into the police station, The Morning Herald said. The incident in western Sydney was being called a “very deliberate” attack. The assistant police commissioner said that police spotted the man, described as being in his 60s, “parked in the driveway of the Merrylands police station,” said the newspaper. The car “ignited” and drove into an underground carpark, said the newspaper.
Fox News said the man had gas bottles “packed in his car” but they didn’t explode. Sydney television, quoting a police source, is calling the incident an “attempted terror attack,” said Fox News. However, 9 News reported that police are now saying “there was no indication it was terror-related and violent extremism was not one of their lines of inquiry.” They did not know the motive or man’s identity, 9 News said.
Police corden off the area around a police station in the Merrylands neighbourhood area of Sydney on July 21, 2016.
A man was arrested in Sydney on July 21 and a bomb disposal squad was examining his car after he drove it into an underground police station car park. / AFP / SAEED KHAN (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
However, The UK Daily Mail reported, “The station had been recently fortified after receiving threats including letters threatening attacks on ‘non-Muslims’ and pictures of ISIS fighters holding severed heads.” The driver has a mental health history, said Daily Mail. A police accountant was murdered outside an Australian police station in what was called a terror attack last fall, said Daily Mail.
The incident occurred at the Merrysland police station, Australian television reported.
9 News Australia said police were “praised” for coming to the assistance of the driver. The man “was unconscious as police extinguished the flames and pulled him from the car,” said 9 News.
UPDATE: Man in custody after he drove his car into the underground car park of Merrylands police station. #9News
UPDATE: Man reportedly drove car into Merrylands police station car park with gas bottles onboard. #9News
Attempted #terror attack in #Sydney #Australia – car rams into police station
People reacted on Twitter: