Attack Killer Believed to Have Watched Teen Knife Video Shortly Prior to Attack
A legal representative described it as “disturbing and alarming” that the individual responsible likely viewed online content showing a stabbing incident in another country by a young male just 40 minutes prior to carrying out his own violent acts.
Inquiry into Tragic Incident
An official inquiry is now being conducted into the events preceding the assault by Axel Rudakubana, who was a teenager at the time, on the date of the incident. In the attack, he killed three young girls and tried to kill eight children and several older individuals.
On Tuesday, legal counsel detailed the focus of the inquiry, which will explore the sequence of events and contacts Rudakubana had with various public services, including criminal justice, education, welfare services, and medical providers.
Deliberate Nature of the Assault
Officials noted that the incident was “deeply disturbing” and specifically targeted female victims. Apart from one man injured during the event, every one of the other victims were girls or women.
The representative referred to Rudakubana as a “prolific internet user” and mentioned that the teenager had erased his browsing history prior to the incident. But, evidence showed he had used another device to search for videos of a stabbing by a young person in Australia.
Online Companies Being Questioned
Investigators has asked for details from social media firms Meta and formerly Twitter regarding Rudakubana’s activity on their platforms. Officials stated that the teenager had probably watched violent material on the platform shortly before the attack.
“One could possibly consider it alarming and troubling that nearly the final action AR did before committing these terrible crimes was to look up and possibly view material on Twitter in relation to a knife attack.”
Weapons and Online Purchases
The inquiry will also look into how Rudakubana purchased weapons such as knives, crossbows, and large knives by pretending to be an older person and using a fake identity. Additionally, he bought plant materials through Amazon to create a basic form of a toxic substance”.
Officials have asked for comprehensive accounts from Rudakubana’s parents to establish their awareness of his online orders and the items he kept in his room and living room.
Continuing Investigation
One key focus of the inquiry is to determine which organizations or entities should have taken ownership to step in given the risks the individual had shown before the attack.
The chair of the investigation vowed to do everything “humanly possible” to answer the concerns of grieving relatives and victims. The inquiry continues in the near future.
