Scenes of the clean up of Merrylands Police station after a man set himself on fire and rammed the building.

Aftermath of Merrylands Police station after it was rammed by a car

POLICE today raided the Greystanes home of the man arrested after driving his burning car filled with gas bottles into Merrylands police station sparking a terror alert.

Peter Zhurawel, under guard in hospital after suffering severe burns, is reported to have snapped after becoming “overwhelmed” by a looming legal battle with his brother.

NSW Police Commisioner Andrew Scipione will reveal more details of last night’s attack later today after his officers were praised for coming to the aid of the driver as his car ignited.

Mr Zhurawel told friends he was “overwhelmed” by a looming legal battle with his brother.

While watching detectives strip apart the man’s Greystanes home, next door neighbour and close friend, Julia Di Salvia, 41, revealed she spoke to him hours before the attack.

“He was calm and collected but seemed really worried about going to court today,” she said.

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“There is a big famiy dispute over who looks after his 90-year-old mother.

“Peter wanted to look after her at his place but other people wanted to put her into a nursing home.

“I guess the whole thing just overwhelmed him.”

Detectives started searching through the man’s house looking for evidence of planning behind last night’s attack.

Two gass bottles and boxes of paper work have been removed from the house.

No officers were injured in the car-bomb attack when the man rammed the vehicle into the carpark about 7pm.

The man — aged in his 60s and with a history of mental illness — was arrested about 8pm.

He was taken to Westmead Hospital with burns and is a serious condition.

It is understood he is well-known to police, but has no known links to terror groups.

It is believed the car was filled with gas bottles that did not detonate.

Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said although they do not believe he has any links to terror groups, they are “keeping an open mind” throughout the investigation.

“Initial inquiries suggest there are no links to any groups,” he said.

“The officers were very, very brave. They have approached the vehicle, I understand the vehicle still had an amount of accelerant, fuel perhaps, in the vehicle. They’ve approached there to try and save this person’s life so they’ve been very heroic in what they’ve done.

“It is a miracle that no one else was injured.”

Police rushed to extinguish the flames before the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit arrived.

“He has tried to set himself on fire and it certainly is a very deliberate attack. He was trying to harm himself and others — mainly police,” a police source told The Daily Telegraph.

The streets surrounding the Memorial Ave police station were locked down as the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, NSW Police Tactical Operation Unit Officers, the Dog Squad and NSW Fire and Rescue secured the area.

Officers also examined the vehicle and the car has now been designated a crime scene, with forensic testing set to take place.

No police officers or members of the public were injured in the incident.

Police set up a large exclusion zone from the corner of Merrylands Rd, about 200m from the police station.

A supermarket, a sweets shop and a juice shop within the exclusion zone remained open.

Andy Toksaz was parked across the road near the post office when he said he heard a loud explosion.

“Suddenly I heard a really loud bang. I got out to see what was going on all the police were out the front,” Mr Toksaz said.

“They ran from inside and were all looking down the drive way. The car had gone right through the metal roller door.

“They told everyone to run in case there was a bomb.”

He said he thought it was a small silver car.

“They’re were trying to get him out, but all the doors looked like they were stuck. They had fire extinguishers trying to put out the fire.”