Sydney church stabbing: Teen charged with terrorism, allegedly travelled 90min to carry out attack

A teen charged with terrorism after the stabbing of a bishop at a Sydney church allegedly travelled 90 minutes from his home to carry out the terrifying attack.

Police charged a 16-year-old with terrorism after he allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian church in western Sydney.

The charge over the attack came as officers zero in on as many as 50 people involved in a violent riot after the incident.

NSW Police said counterterrorism officers interviewed the 16-year-old in hospital on Thursday and charged him with committing a terrorist act.

In fresh details this morning, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police will allege the terror suspect travelled more than an hour from his home specifically to attend the location where the bishop was speaking.

“We allege on Monday night he [Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel] was stabbed up to six times. We also allege that the boy had travelled for 90 minutes to attend that location from his home address,” Webb said.

“He is a 16-year-old and he will appear at a children’s court... I’d like to reassure the community that police will be out in force for high visibility operations today and onwards for as long as needed to reassure the community we are there to keep them safe.

“We have extra officers deployed... to patrol places of worship. The community should have no current concerns for their safety.”

The teenager was refused bail and a bedside court hearing was expected on Friday.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, NSW was stabbed during a church service on Monday.

Bishop Emmanuel was stabbed during a live-streamed sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Monday night.

The attack was declared a terrorist act because of the teen’s possible religious motivation.

Dozens of police were injured, their cars vandalised and a cohort of officers and paramedics were forced to shelter inside the place of worship.

Dani Mansour, from Doonside, was the first person arrested and charged over the public-disorder incident.

Police told Mansour as he was arrested “the commissioner of police told you we were coming. We are here”.

Appearing in court on Thursday, the 19-year-old said he made a mistake but he was “pissed off” at officers who had hurt people outside the church.

Mansour allegedly filmed himself kicking two police cars during the riot before uploading the footage to Instagram.

Speaking to reporters outside Blacktown police station on Thursday, he said he had “just done one [police car]”.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the man was not a member of the church community.

“[What] has been shown is that people just came along to participate in a riot and that’s disgraceful and disgusting.”

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the man was not a member of the church community. Photo / Getty Images

As many as 50 people were wanted for questioning over the unrest, including several who disguised themselves and police were looking for public help to identify, Webb said.

In an audio message released by the church earlier on Thursday, the bishop said he was doing fine and recovering quickly, while calling on followers to obey the law following the riot.

“I need you to act Christ-like, the lord Jesus never taught us to fight.”

Bishop Emmanuel said he forgave the teen allegedly responsible for the stabbing as well as “whoever sent [him] to do this”.

“I forgive whoever has done this act, I say to him, ‘You’re my son, I love you, and I will always pray for you’.”

Bishop Emmanuel’s call for calm comes after western Sydney religious leaders also tried to quell community tensions after the attack.

Police declared it a terrorist act because the teenager allegedly made comments in Arabic that referred to insults against “my prophet” before stabbing the bishop, who had previously publicly criticised Islam and other religions.

An extra 70 additional officers have been deployed across the region to conduct high-visibility patrols at places of worship.

Another 42 officers have been assigned to investigate the riot, during which some of the crowd tried to gain access to the alleged attacker while he was being held inside the church.

Investigators are collating evidence including mobile phone and CCTV vision to identify those involved.

- Additional reporting by the Herald