The chilling last words of a radicalized teenager, before being shot dead following the Perth Bunnings stabbing

A teenager shot dead by police after stabbing a man in a Perth Bunnings car park at the weekend said he was on a “path to jihad” before the attack.

The radicalized 16-year-old boy was shot dead by police shortly before 10:00 p.m. in front of the Bunnings store in Willetton, in the south of Washington’s capital.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: WA Police Minister Paul Papalia speaks about the teenager who was shot dead at Perth Bunnings.

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Officers initially attempted to subdue the boy using Tasers when he lunged at them, but when he continued his advance, a single gunshot caused him to fall to the ground.

On Monday, The West Australian reported that the teenager sent a message to several people on social media before carrying out the knife attack, and that some of the recipients alerted police about their concerns.

“Brothers, please forgive me for any time I have wronged you, tonight I will follow the path of jihad for the cause of Allah,” wrote the boy, supposedly a converted Muslim.

“I am a soldier of the Al Qaeda mujahideen and I take responsibility for the actions that… will take place tonight.”

“If you have illegal or jihadist things online or in real life, make sure you hide them well and clean your technology, such as laptops and phones, including search history… as the police will probably investigate my contacts,” he added.

On Monday, WA Police Minister Paul Papalia told Sunrise the teenager had been on a “de-radicalisation” program for the past two years.

“Our state security investigations group monitors people, but these are people who have not necessarily committed a crime,” he said.

“You can’t lock people up for having a belief in Australia, that’s part of democracy.

“It’s difficult to try to change people’s beliefs once they’ve become obsessed or radicalized in this way.”

Papalia admitted that the incident would likely be classified as a “terrorist attack” in the coming days.

“It is up to the police commissioner to make that decision,” Papalia said.

“Normally I would call it a terrorist attack in case I needed more help, or if it was urgent to call it that or if there was a need for urgent assistance from other authorities.

“In the recent Sydney case, they had an urgency, they feared there were other people involved, there was an ongoing potential threat (to the community).”

The West Australian newspaper reported that the boy had spent two years in a deradicalization program after being radicalized online.

The imam of Perth’s largest mosque condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.

“There is no place for violence in Islam,” said Nasir mosque imam Syed Wadood Janud.

“This was very close to home; any of us could have been in Bunnings,” he said.

Janud said the local Muslim community was worried about a possible backlash.

“We are extremely concerned about Islamophobia; sometimes the reaction can be very harsh,” he said.

The teenager, who police had known since he was 14 and had mental health issues, was taken to hospital and pronounced dead around 11pm on Saturday.

An injured man in his 30s was found nearby with a stab wound and transported to Royal Perth Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the teenager acted alone during the attack, which appeared to be random because he had no connection to the victim.

Members of the Muslim community became concerned about the teenager after he posted messages online and contacted police before the incident.

Federal Minister Tanya Plibsersek praised the community’s actions.

“I think that shows what good, strong community policing can do,” he told Sunrise on Monday.

— With the AAP

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