Men with Abdul Numan Haider 'not conspiring' to ambush officers

Men with Abdul Numan Haider 'not conspiring' to ambush officers

Investigators have moved away from a theory that a group of men who met with Abdul Numan Haider shortly before his fatal run-in with police had conspired to ambush police officers.

"Certainly yesterday part of the investigation focused, as it will continue to focus, in some respects, on what was happening immediately before the events outside the police station," Victoria Police deputy commissioner Graham Ashton said.

"There were some young males in the presence of the deceased young man just prior to the incident ... but it certainly shouldn't be extrapolated on or extended to suggest that there was a conspiracy to ambush these police officers.

"Certainly that's not our prevailing theory."

Numan Haider, who was shot by police in Endeavour Hills after injuring two police officers with a knife.


However, he added that it was a "moving investigation" and that police were not ruling anything out.

Police also do not believe there is any current threat to the community, nor was there ever a threat to the Prime Minister, connected to Mr Haider, Mr Ashton said.

He did confirm that police planned to speak with people associated with the controversial Al-Fuqan Islamic Centre in Springvale that was caught up in anti-terrorism raids two years ago.

Eighteen-year-old Mr Haider was shot dead by police after allegedly slashing two officers with a knife shortly before 8pm on Tuesday. Another knife and a flag were later found on his body.

Haider was being investigated by the joint anti-terrorism taskforce in the lead-up to his death. Reports have suggested Mr Haider became increasingly frustrated with authorities and reached a boiling point after learning police had searched his home while he was out, hours before the tragic confrontation.

However, Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton rejected claims the home was raided, saying police attended a bungalow at the back of a property where Mr Haider had been living with the permission of the home owner.

Standing alongside Mr Ashton and Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, Sheikh Abdul Azim said the tragedy had been "a wake-up call for everyone", and urged peace within the community.

Mr Lay said although police data had not shown a rise in abuse towards Muslim Victorians, he had been hearing anecdotally that Muslims were facing more incidents involving racial vilification in the community. He urged them to come forward to police and report it.

The Sheikh also reached out to the Islamic community, calling on Australians to embrace police as their "protectors" rather than as an enemy. "ISIS is the enemy of the whole world," he said.

A petition calling for Mr Lay to release the CCTV vision of Mr Haider's death had attracted more than 1000 signatures on Friday.

"This is a contentious and emotion-charged event," one signatory wrote. "The investigation needs to be open, thorough and, most important of all, transparent."

Mr Lay said he believed it would be against the law to release the vision while investigations were ongoing. "I simply cannot release those images until an appropriate time," he said.

A group of Mr Haider's friends were expected to rally in the CBD on Friday.

Mr Ashton said the investigation into how Mr Haider was "radicalised" was expected be "ongoing for some months".

Premier Denis Napthine visited the injured AFP officer in hospital this morning and said he was in "good spirits" but faced a lengthy recovery.

Yesterday he visited the injured Victoria Police officer at Dandenong Hospital.

"They are both in good spirits, they have suffered serious injuries and will have a prolonged recovery," he said.


Dr Napthine said the AFP officer was appreciative of the enormous support he had received from the community.

With Henrietta Cook

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