In short:
A 14-year-old boy was arrested after allegedly stabbing a 22-year-old Sydney University student in Camperdown on Tuesday.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the boy had been arrested and charged over an unrelated matter last year. Those charges were later dropped.
What’s next?
Police are investigating the motive behind the stabbing.
A 14-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed a student in the neck at the University of Sydney has charges against him last year dropped, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley says.
The teenager is in hospital undergoing health assessments after the incident at the university’s primary campus in Camperdown on Tuesday morning.
Paramedics responded to reports of a stabbing about 8:35am and found a 22-year-old man suffering from a single stab wound to the neck.
The man and the teenager were not known to each other, police said.
Police allege the man was stabbed by the teenager, who was dressed in camouflage at the time of the attack, with a kitchen knife.
The student was treated at the scene and taken to nearby Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition but was released a few hours later.
Officers established a crime scene after the stabbing and were told the teenager had boarded a bus on Parramatta Road.
Police arrested the boy near Royal Prince Alfred Hospital shortly after.
The state’s police minister told ABC News Breakfast the teen had previously been charged over another matter last year.
“We do know that the [alleged] perpetrator was arrested last year,” Ms Catley said.
“We do know he went to court, and those charges were dismissed.”
Ms Catley said the boy had been attending a program the Department of Community and Justice runs at the time of the previous charges.
“As I understand it, he was engaging in that program,” she said.
The ABC understands the program involved de-radicalisation measures.
Motivation remains unclear
Ms Catley said the teenager was “working alone” but a motive for the stabbing had not been established.
“We believe this was a random attack,” she said.
The Counter Terrorism and and Special Tactics Command is investigating the stabbing, including whether there is a link to any ideology.
“That is an element of determining whether something is an act of terrorism,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton said yesterday.
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