Man Responsible For The Melbourne Attack Was A 29-Year-Old With A Long Criminal History

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called the attack a "terrorist incident" that has "shocked all Australians".

"This terrorist attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime. It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant," said Turnbull, responding to the incident, as reported by CNN today, 6 June.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The attack in Melbourne, Australia, was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State in response to the call for targeting the subjects of the coalition states," read a statement published the group's Amaq news agency which was translated and reported by Reuters.

The attack was carried out by Yacqub Khayre, a 29-year-old Australian of Somali heritage.

Here's what happened yesterday evening in Brighton:

Australia's The Age reported that Khayre had earlier booked a room at a serviced apartment and had "lured" a sex-worker there, under the pretense of wanting to engage in her services.

Wearing a balaclava and gloves, armed with a sawn-off shotgun, he took the sex-worker hostage, tied her up and then shot a male clerk, a 36-year-old Chinese-Australian concierge who works at the apartment building.

He then called a local TV station, Channel 7 and told them "this is for ISIS, this is for al-Qaeda". Reports claimed that the woman he held hostage was heard screaming in the background. Note that militant group ISIS and Al-Qaeda are at odds with one another, despite their similar mission.

At around 4pm, police were called to the apartment after reports of an explosion. The police tried negotiating with the suspect but Khayre only responded when the Special Operations Group arrived. After about two hours, he emerged from the complex, firing his weapon, injuring three officers.

The police returned fire and killed him. Two of the police officers suffered hand injuries and the third officer was injured in the face and neck, reported The Guardian.

The woman was reportedly traumatised from the incident, but was not hurt.

News.com.au has described him as a "violent criminal, a terribly-behaved prisoner, and a one-time terror suspect with known links to extremists".

In 2009, he was charged over a terror plot targeting Holsworthy barracks, an Australian Army training area in the outer south-western Sydney suburb. He was acquitted of the charges but the authorities knew that he had links to the Somalia-based ISIS-linked terror group that the plot was traced back to.

He has spent about two years in a youth justice center for about 45 offences involving burglaries, assault and drug possession. It was reported that he had even stabbed a man on a train in the leg, demanding for his money and phone.

He served time for his offences and was eventually released on parole last year, with strict terms and conditions. He was on parole at the time of the incident.

"He is someone that was known to us as having a long criminal history, a whole range of offending going back many years ago," said Victorian Police commissioner Graham Ashton when speaking to News.com.au.

"How was this man on parole? He had a long record of violence, a very long record of violence, he had been charged with a terrorist offense... and acquitted. He was known to have connections, at least in the past, with violent extremism," asked Turnbull.

Following the attack that killed him, Khayre's home in Roxburgh Park, where he lived with his mother, was searched by the police today, 6 June.