Australian police have arrested a man they allege was planning to carry out a terror attack during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Melbourne.
The 20-year-old Australian citizen, who was arrested in Werribee on Monday afternoon and who police say is an “Islamic State supporter”, was allegedly planning to shoot and kill as many people as he could in an attack at Federation Square.
Police have alleged the man had tried to obtain an automatic rifle to carry out his plan.
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“What we will be alleging is that he was intending to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could,” Victoria Police deputy commissioner Shane Patton told reporters.
He said the man was born in Australia to Somali parents and had been monitored by police as a “person of interest” since January.
