Australian officials say Sydney police HQ shooting 'linked to terrorism', gunman was a 'radicalized youth'

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police said on Saturday they believed the shooting of a police worker by a 15-year-old boy in Sydney the previous day was "linked to terrorism", the latest in a series of attacks blamed on radicalized youth.

Australia, a staunch ally of the United States and its battle against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since last year.

The teenager was shot dead by police on Friday afternoon after he gunned down, at close range, a police employee leaving the headquarters of the New South Wales Police, police and witnesses said.

Police said they had identified the gunman as coming from an Iraqi-Kurdish background, and having been born in Iran.

"We believe his actions were politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism," New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters.

The boy was previously unknown to police or counter-terrorism officials, he added.

The victim was named as Curtis Cheng, a 17-year veteran of the NSW Police, who worked in the finance department.

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