{"id":23369,"date":"2026-06-02T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/23369\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T14:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:19:08","slug":"parents-shocked-st-helens-state-school-was-the-target-of-an-alleged-violent-extremist-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/23369\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents shocked St Helens State School was the target of an alleged violent extremist plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Parents with children at a regional Queensland school that was the target of an alleged deadly plot have expressed their shock and disbelief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Queensland Police said a 13-year-old boy from Maryborough, <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-06-01\/boy-13-charged-with-violent-extremist-offences\/106746602\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106746602\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who has been charged with violent extremist offences<\/a>, posed an &#8220;imminent threat&#8221; to a school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Limited details have emerged so far about what the boy&#8217;s alleged plan was.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman with orange hair smiling with a sign in the background\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9df38b6107936818a3ee81cc4ed0e79f.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Tamika Weichmann says it is a scary prospect.\u00a0 (ABC Wide Bay: Olivia Nunes-Malek)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Parents with children at the alleged target, St Helens State School in Maryborough, about 250 kilometres north of Brisbane, said they were in shock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It is scary, it is very scary,&#8221; Tamika Wiechmann said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think any parent wants to think about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Andre Johnston said it was &#8220;just crazy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Pretty shocking really, [I&#8217;m] worried for sure,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man in a backwards cap smiling with a sign in the background\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/243e7da770aa243faefd06f89ceb7843.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Andre Johnston says the news is shocking.\u00a0 (ABC Wide Bay: Olivia Nunes-Malek)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The teenager \u2014 who has been charged with one count each of preparation or planning to cause death or grievous bodily harm and possessing or controlling violent extremist material obtained or accessed using a carriage of service \u2014 remains in custody after appearing in the Hervey Bay Children&#8217;s Court on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Queensland Police said the charges arose after the Counter Terrorism Investigation Group seized electronic devices from a Maryborough home on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A brick building with a sign out the front reading 'Hervey Bay Courthouse'\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f4112c3e44ef9fd46744c8b3b71ba47d.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The teenager is due to reappear in the Hervey Bay Children&#8217;s Court on Friday.\u00a0 (ABC Wide Bay: Grace Whiteside)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The teenager had been arrested two days earlier on May 28 after police were called to a BP service station on Saltwater Creek Road in Maryborough following reports of a person with a knife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The boy was dealt with under the Youth Justice Act over one count of attempting to enter premises with intent, going armed to cause fear and making threats.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Shocking allegations&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Fraser Coast mayor George Seymour said he was shocked to hear of the alleged offence in the regional community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;There is nothing more important than the safety of children,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man in a red and white shirt looks seriously towards camera\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a16a9e79bc88616208595975e62e354c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">George Seymour says the news is extremely concerning.\u00a0 (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Maryborough and the Fraser Coast is a safe place where people feel safe and it is very concerning to see such a significant charge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Health Minister Tim Nicholls said on Tuesday that he had &#8220;many questions regarding the shocking allegations&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;As is standard practice, Queensland Health is working with police as they conduct their investigations, including examining any interactions between the alleged perpetrator and the health system,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A BP service station pictured at night.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780409948_809_e474fb541df8cbb538ef55bd0d5dc998.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Police were initially called to a service station in Maryborough following reports of a person with a knife.\u00a0 (ABC News: Olivia Nunes-Malek)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The Department of Child Safety would not disclose whether the child was known to the department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Speaking on Monday, Acting Detective Superintendent Jason Hindmarsh said it was too early to say if the boy had any ideological, religious or political motivations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A bail application hearing is set down for Friday in the Hervey Bay Children&#8217;s Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents with children at a regional Queensland school that was the target of an alleged deadly plot have&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,21956,1109,1047,212,21955,8312,12341],"class_list":["post-23369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-counterterrorism","tag-court","tag-police","tag-queensland","tag-school-threat","tag-terrorism","tag-violent-extremism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}