Victim identified as Curtis Cheng — father of two and 17-year veteran of the police force who worked in finance

15-year-old gunman of Iraqi-Kurdish background and born in Iran

Had visited Parramatta Mosque before shooting rampage

NSW Police commissioner Andrew Scipione: Attack was ‘politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism’

NSW Premier Mike Baird: ‘This tragedy will echo around the world’

THE gunman who shot dead a police staffer was a 15-year-old who had visited Parramatta Mosque on his way to commit murder.

The teenager, a naturalised Australian of Iraqi-Kurdish background who arrived with his family from Iran, had walked to the police headquarters in Charles Street from his home in north Parramatta before opening fire on a civilian police employee.

The victim was identified as Curtis Cheng, a 17-year veteran of the police finance department, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said today.

Mr Cheng — a father-of-two, of a son and a daughter — was shot in point blank range by the teen as he left work yesterday just after 4.30pm.

Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Scipione said the attack was “politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism”.

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“If it is politically motivated violence then it is deemed an act of terrorism,” Mr Scipione said.

He said there was “no information” that the gunman “was doing anything other than acting alone”.

Mr Scipione also paid tribute to the Special Constables, who guard the building and gunned down the attacker.

“I don’t think I’ve seen greater acts of bravery than I saw last night,” he said.

media_camera The gunman’s body shortly before it was moved from the scene at 4.30 this morning. Picture: Gordon McComiskie

media_camera A police officer stands by the bodies near NSW Police HQ. Picture: Phillip Rogers

media_camera Police officers secure the scene of a shooting at NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta, minutes after a police IT worker and gunman were shot dead.

Police are today trying to trackdown the teenage killer’s family who may have left the area.

Witnesses have told The Saturday Telegraph that after shooting dead the civilian employee, the teenager ran up and down in front of police headquarters waving his handgun in the air and shouting: “Allah. Allah.”

It was then that two special constables on security duty ran from the police building and shot the gunman dead.

Police are trying to find out who radicalised the teenager.

He had no identification on him and it is understood to be his brother who rang police and said he thought he knew who the gunman was.

The chairman of Parramatta Mosque, Neil El-Kadomi, said he was contacted by police on Friday night and shown a photograph of the gunman who entered the mosque before the attack.

The police, at that time, were still attempting to identify him, Mr El-Kadomi said.

“We don’t know him,” he said, adding that he reviewed CCTV footage from his mosque to try establish when he came onto the premises.

“I looked at the footage, we stayed until the late night. We have 400-500 people coming everyday. We don’t accept what he did, it’s a crime.”

The Sunni mosque is about 15 minutes walk from the State Crime Command headquarters on Charles Street.

Security may be beefed up at tomorrow’s NRL grand final following the incident.

media_camera Where the shooting took place.

The bodies of the victim and the shooter were removed earlier this morning.

Charles St is still completely blocked from Macquarie St to George St, with only residents being allowed past the cordons.

Last night Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione described the incident as a “brutal crime” after reviewing CCTV footage.

“An employee of the NSW Police Force has been callously murdered,” he said.

“I viewed a number of pieces of footage. I can tell you this was a brutal crime. A terrible crime.”

The gunman, walked past one ­female police officer before shooting Mr Cheng in the back of the head.

It is not certain if Mr Cheng was known to the gunman, who had still not been identified late on Friday night.

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Mr Scipione said the vision showed the Mr Cheng was “targeted”.

The attacker remained on the street after killing the public servant with a single shot and got into an exchange with special constables working in the building.

The commissioner praised the bravery of the special constables guarding the entrance, who have full police powers and who were sprayed with bullets by the gunman before he was shot dead.

He said police had not ruled out that the gunman, who had no identification on him, was working with others, although it was too soon to know the motive.

The Saturday Telegraph has learned messages had been sent to police to be on alert because people had been seen taking photographs of the entrance to the building, which houses the crack major crime squads.

media_camera Commissioner Andrew Scipione addresses the media at a press conference after the shooting. Picture: Jonathan Ng

media_camera Officers searching the crime scene after the shooting on Charles St, Parramatta. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Sources said the building had been “cased” and there had been “chatter” in recent weeks about a potential ­attack, but the target was not clear.

“There has been activity around a number of locations in NSW, they’re the things we communicate to our ­officers,” Mr Scipione said.

He said a major events team was looking at the incident with a view to the NRL grand final, but said security for the match at the ANZ Stadium on Sunday night was already high.

Police flooded the area and shoppers ran in panic as a 2km exclusion zone was declared around the building after the shootings at about 4.30pm on Friday.

Officers in body armour patrolled Parramatta CBD as police declared it a Level 1 critical incident, the most serious level there is.

The two bodies lay on the pavement covered in white sheets at the doorway of a childcare centre. The group of children were locked inside the centre after one of the bodies lay at the door.

media_camera Police secure the scene outside of NSW Police Headquarters on Charles S, Parramatta. Picture: Phillip Rogers

Father Dennis Entriken told The Daily Telegraph they all hoped their kids had been spared the sight and sounds of the horror.

“Unfortunately the children are still inside — we can’t get access to them and they can’t come out,” he said.

“Because one of the bodies is quite literally on the ground at the entrance to the childcare centre.”

The parents have since been reunited with their children.

media_camera Dennis Entriken holding his daughter who was in the child care centre next to Police Headquarters. . Picture Craig Greenhill

media_camera Residents locked out of their homes near the scene on Charles St. Picture Craig Greenhill

Police seized a backpack from the footpath in front of Parramatta Public School about 300m from the bodies.

The black backpack — branded with a white “Nike” slogan — had been cordoned off inside a secondary crime scene.

LISTEN TO POLICE COMMISSIONER SCIPIONE’S STATEMENT

It is understood a number of other items were also photographed and seized by forensic police.

Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman had been waving the gun above his head.

“I saw him pacing up and down at police headquarters with a gun above his head, he was yelling something and dressed in a black robe,” witness Edwin Almeida said.

“He was wearing something that could be mistaken for a priest’s outfit. It was a black robe, but he definitely wasn’t a priest.” Mr Almeida, whose office is opposite the police headquarters, said four or five shots were fired.

“He was screaming and running towards the police building … he looked agitated,” he said.

“There was blood everywhere.”

media_camera Crowds are held back by a police block on Charles Street, Parramatta. Picture: Cathy Morris

Shopkeeper Sammy Shak told The Daily Telegraph he saw two bodies on the ground after hearing “six shots at least”.

“When I went out there was two bodies on the floor and there was cops everywhere all around the area and they told me to go inside the shop straight away,” he said.

Another witness who lives in an apartment opposite police headquarters said he heard the shooting.

“I finished work and was in the shower and I heard the gunshots,” the man, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Telegraph.

“I heard six or seven gunshots and it was pretty loud.

“In two to three minutes there were cops everywhere.”

One worker, whose colleague witnessed the shooting, told The Daily Telegraph she was left shaken after watching an exchange of gunfire.

Residents who live near the police headquarters said they heard three or four “bangs”, which sounded like fireworks, before a gap of 30 seconds and a further four bangs.

An ambulance left Charles Street just after 5pm as locals gathered around the blocked-off area.

media_camera The police roadblock on Hassell St after the shooting. Picture: Jonathan Ng

POLICE IN THE LINE OF FIRE

SEP 23 2014

Numan Haider, 18, of Afghan descent, stabbed two counterterrorism officers at a police station in the Melbourne suburb of Endeavour Hills before being shot dead.

Harder was one of up to 50 Australian citizens who had their passports cancelled due to fears that they would join the Islamic State group. He reportedly went to the police station to discuss his cancelled passport.

FEB 10 2015

Heavily armed counterterrorism police raided a Fairfield granny flat (above) and arrested two men they believe were planning to attack either a Sydney police station or officers on the street. Iraqi-born Omar Al’Kutobi and Kuwaiti national Mohammad Kiad were charged with plotting to carry out a terrorist act.

APR 18 2015

Police allegedly thwarted an Islamic State terror plot to kill officers with knives and swords in Melbourne on Anzac Day. Five teenagers were arrested in pre-dawn raids. ASIO reportedly had told the family of one suspect to stop their son communicating with an extremist recruiter, who groomed Melbourne terrorist Numan Haider.

MAY 7 2015

The NSW police union called for stab-resistant vests for every officer. The union also sought permission for on-call police to be able to take their guns home with them and asked that officers not work alone, following increased security measures in Victoria.