Australia police arrests teenage boy after stabbing at Sydney university

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - SYDNEY, July 2 — Australian police said it had arrested a 14-year-old boy after a stabbing at the University of Sydney this morning, which triggered a lockdown of the university buildings.

Emergency crews treated a 22-year-old man, who was taken to a hospital in a serious but stable condition, New South Wales state police said in a statement.

The alleged attacker boarded a bus after the incident and was arrested near a hospital, police said. There is no ongoing risk to the community, and the victim and the alleged attacker were not known to each other, it said.

A University of Sydney spokesperson said a police operation was underway at its Camperdown campus and that police would remain on campus while investigations continue.

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Police have cordoned off the crime scene.The attack comes about two months after six people were killed and 12 injured in a knife attack at a beachside mall in Sydney’s Bondi area, and an Assyrian church bishop was wounded in an unrelated stabbing attack during a service in Sydney’s west.

A 16-year-old boy was charged with a terrorism offence over the stabbing of the bishop, while the attacker at the mall was shot dead by police.

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The two attacks had prompted the New South Wales state government to toughen its knife laws. The state parliament passed laws in June giving police electronic metal-detecting scanners to check people without a warrant at shopping centres, sporting venues and public transport stations.

The law also raised the maximum penalty for selling a knife to a child under the age of 16 to A$11,000 (RM34,473), imprisonment for 12 months, or both. It also prohibited selling a knife to a child aged 16 or 17 without a reasonable excuse. — Reuters