By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
CONFUSING and shocking – the words from a former imam at Numan Haider’s Hallam mosque aptly described one of the year’s most disturbing events.
One September night Haider, 18, allegedly stabbed two police – one suffering serious wounds – and was shot dead in an Endeavour Hills police station car park, next door to a childcare centre.
Haider’s family were devastated, police beefed up their own security protocols and there were worries over what ripples of violence might ensue.
Political leaders called for avoiding recriminations against the Muslim community; police and faith leaders conversed, as did everyone – trying to make sense of how this tragedy happened.
There had been warning signs. Haider was carrying an IS flag and handing out pamphlets in Dandenong Plaza a week before.
Friends knew he had become radicalised, recently visiting Sydney. Police regarded him as a “person of interest”; his passport cancelled days before.
The former imam said: “I want this message to pose to the whole community: the Muslim community, we are part of the community and we are the same as any community in Australia – some of our youth have problems like any other community.
“Unfortunately our problems are linked to what’s going on around the world.”
The tragic end was however unexpected; hopefully an isolated event by an individual, as described by then-Premier Denis Napthine.
Haider’s death is being investigated by the coroner.
