2024 Wakeley church stabbing

2024 Wakeley church stabbing
Part of terrorism in Australia
Rioters on Welcome Street following the stabbing, 16 April 2024 at 12:12 a.m.
Location of Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley
Location	Wakeley, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33.8728°S 150.9062°E / -33.8728; 150.9062
Date	15 April 2024 7:15 p.m. – (AEST; UTC+10:00)
Attack type	Mass stabbing
Weapon	Knife
Deaths	0
Injured	4 (including the perpetrator)
Motive	Islamic extremism
Accused	Unnamed 16-year-old boy

On 15 April 2024, at approximately 7:15 p.m. local time, an unnamed person perpetrated a knife attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. During a live-streamed sermon, he initiated the attack by walking up to the pulpit and first stabbing bishop Mari Emmanuel and priest Isaac Royel before attacking other churchgoers. While no one was killed, this attack was the second mass stabbing to have taken place in Sydney in three days, following the deadly mass stabbing at Bondi Junction.

The New South Wales Police Force have arrested a 16 year old male over the attack. They have classified the stabbing as a terrorist attack, but have not revealed the name of the accused, who stated in Arabic after the assault, "if they didn’t insult my prophet, I wouldn’t have come here." Wakeley, where Christ The Good Shepherd Church is located, is home to many Christians belonging to the Assyrian diaspora, including Emmanuel himself.

Background

Wakeley hosts the highest number of Assyrian Christians of any suburban neighbourhood in Australia, many of whom are refugees from Iraq and Syria.

Originally from Iraq, Mar Mari Emmanuel was ordained as a bishop in 2011 but later broke away from the Ancient Church of the East due to theological differences and established his own Christian denomination.

Emmanuel criticised liberal Christian denominations, as well as other religions such as Judaism and Islam in his sermons. He was a prominent critic of lockdowns and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. He espoused conservative stances on issues such as LGBT rights and sexuality. He had also voiced solidarity with the Palestinians during the Israel–Hamas war, and had called for peace. Clips from his live-streamed sermons have been re-uploaded on social media and have amassed millions of views in which he gained an international following. According to Emmanuel himself, just about one month before the stabbing, there were threats spread on TikTok, stating "the Bishop has two weeks to live".

Stabbing

The stabbings took place around 7.10pm in the suburb of Wakeley, 34 kilometres (21 mi) south-west of the Sydney CBD. An assailant wearing a black jumper entered Christ The Good Shepherd Church located on Welcome Street, shouted "Allahu Akbar", and attacked multiple people with a knife, starting with the bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, whom he approached at the pulpit and then stabbed multiple times in the head and upper body. The weapon was allegedly a switchblade, which is banned in Australia, but the attacker had not opened it fully before using the weapon.

In a video released by one of the churchgoers, the teenager can be heard speaking Arabic, saying "if he didn't insult my prophet, I wouldn't have come here".

The event occurred during a live-stream of Emmanuel preaching whom the congregation gathered around after he was stabbed.

In response to the attack, 11 ambulances were sent to the church.

Casualties

Three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the initial attack: bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, 53, who was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition, which was placed under a partial lockdown.

Two men were treated for lacerations suffered in restraining the attacker, including Father Isaac Royel, 39, and another man in his 60s.

The alleged assailant was also treated for injuries to his hand, which were not intentionally caused by parishioners, but by the ensuing tussle. Rumours had promptly spread through the crowd outside the church and hospital and on social media that vigilantes had "chopped off" some of his fingers, which was untrue.

Suspect

A suspect was apprehended and taken into custody. The suspect, while not as yet named, was first reported to be 15 years old, later revised to 16. He was known to police but was not on a terrorism watchlist. He had previously been convicted in January 2024 for various weapons offences as well as stalking, intimidation and damaging property, but was later released on a good behaviour bond by a court in Sydney.

Footage showed the alleged attacker smiling while held to the floor by a police officer and after being apprehended by churchgoers. The assailant's identity was withheld due to juvenile laws in New South Wales. His father said that his son showed no signs of radicalisation before the attack. According to a Muslim community leader who spoke with the suspect's family, the suspect expressed remorse to his mother and apologised for his actions. He added that the suspect's relatives, who transferred residence for fear of retaliation, condemned the attack, while the suspect's mother said that he had been suffering from anger management issues and had sought treatment from psychiatrists.

Investigation

Police stated that the stabbing that had "elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism." At a press conference in Canberra, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director General Mike Burgess said that the intelligence agency was aware of alleged references made by the assailant pertaining to the bishop having insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force Karen Webb said police had spoken with the boy’s parents, but she could not provide specific details of that conversation.

A counter-terrorism task force was set up to investigate the attack, particularly on whether other persons were involved. The task force consisted of officials from the New South Wales Police Force, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

On 18 April, the 16-year-old suspect was charged with committing a terrorist act. He was refused bail and appeared before a bedside juvenile court hearing on 19 April. He was subsequently ordered to undergo a mental health assessment and will be remanded at a children’s detention center upon being released from hospital pending his next court hearing on June 14.

Aftermath

2024 Wakeley church stabbing aftermath riots
Date	15 April 2024
Location	Wakeley, New South Wales, Australia
Caused by	Stabbing spree of unidentified 16-year-old Islamic fundamentalist assailant
Methods	Isolated incident rioting protests assault
Parties
Wakeley Church parishioners and others NSWPF
Casualties
Injuries	30

More than 100 police personnel were deployed to the church location to confront crowds estimated to be up to 2,000 people gathered outside the church and the hospital, where they believed the alleged attacker was being held. The crowd screamed "Bring him out!" as police and paramedics remained inside the church with the alleged offender for a few hours. The crowds clashed with police and attacked police vehicles. Riot police used pepper spray on the tumultuous crowd outside the church. A police helicopter encircled the area, broadcasting the message: "All persons, please vacate the area immediately."

A total of 30 people were injured during the riots, of which seven were hospitalised. Fifty-one police officers were also injured. Three police officers were taken to hospital for their injuries but released the following day.

Twenty police vehicles were damaged, while ten were rendered unusable. Six paramedics were trapped inside the church for more than three hours due to the violence. Several houses were also broken into. Police operations ended before 1:00 am on 16 April. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb vowed that the violent rioters involved will be "prosecuted" and also stated that many rioters were not associated with the church in the first place. She also announced the formation of Strike Force Dribs to respond to the riot, as well as the implementation of additional patrols to help "community harmonisation." The first arrest in relation to the riots was made on 17 April, when a 19-year-old man from Doonside was charged with riot, affray and destroying or damaging property during public disorder. Police said they were seeking the identities of around 50 people from the crowd.

In his first statements since the attack released on 18 April, Mar Mari Emmanuel said that he was "recovering quickly" and said that he had forgiven the attacker. He also urged his congregation to cooperate with authorities and not to engage in retaliatory acts. On 17 April, Father Isaac Royel was discharged from hospital.

Muslim community leaders expressed fears that the decision by the authorities to label the incident as a "terrorist attack" may encourage Islamophobia, and questioned whether that label was being applied consistently. Police were deployed in mosques across Sydney after reports that text messages were being circulated calling for the Assyrian Christian community to "retaliate" against Muslims. The Lakemba Mosque, the largest in the country, also hired additional private security after receiving fire bomb threats on 15 April. The Islamophobia Register of Australia recorded 46 reports of hate-related incidents following the Wakeley stabbing and the earlier stabbing incident in Bondi Junction, which it partially attributed to misinformation released by Islamophobic figures.

Reactions

The Christ the Good Shepherd's administration requested prayers for the victims of the attack as well as the alleged perpetrator in accordance with Bishop Emmanuel and Father Isaac's wishes. It also called on those that had gathered at the church to "leave in peace". The Assyrian Church of the East also said that its "hearts and prayers are with the victims" and hoped for their "comfort and speedy recovery".

Noting that Bishop Emmanuel prayed for his attacker after the attack, Councillor Steve Christou of the Cumberland City Council stated "It just shows the remarkable courage of a man and the forgiveness he has within him to pray for his alleged attacker."

The attack was condemned by other religious leaders, groups and organisations including the Australian National Imams Council and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry following a meeting with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who also expressed sympathies with victims and emergency services and called for calm.

Frank Carbone, the mayor of the City of Fairfield, said the attack and subsequent riot was "a very emotional situation", adding that the community was "very upset" over the incident.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack, saying that there was no place for "violence in our community" and "violent extremism". He also called on Australians to "unite, not divide, as a community, and as a country." Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Security of ASIO, declared that Australia's terror threat level was "possible", which meant extremism was an existing danger. The Australian government ordered Meta Platforms and X to remove offensive content relating to the attack within 24 hours or face fines.

See also

• List of mass stabbing incidents (2020–present)