Parents at WA high school ‘disgusted’ they were never told about radicalised student shot dead by police

Parents at Rossmoyne Senior High School say they are frustrated with the school’s lack of communication over a radicalised Year 11 student who set off a makeshift bomb inside a toilet.

The high school was plunged into chaos again on Tuesday morning following the circulation of messages – described by Principal Alan Brown as a hoax — that appeared to show a student claiming he was planning to “shoot up at the school”.

The messages purport to come from a student, whom The Nightly has chosen not to name. However, the school has since told parents it is understood to be a hacking incident.

Speaking outside Rossmoyne SHS, mother Hannah Marriner said her Year 8 son was staying home after seeing the concerning messages on the school chat forum.

“My son isn’t at school today and (neither are) a lot of his friends — they’re frightened, they woke up and read these messages, and we’re all concerned,” she said.

“We just want some answers as to what they’re going to put in place to make sure the children are safe.

“It could be fake, it could be whatever — but it’s scary, it’s not nice.

“I’m down here as I want to get some answers. I want to know why the school had a radicalised ... child at the school without anyone being told.”

Ms Marriner said she was “disgusted” parents were never told about the makeshift bomb let off by James inside a toilet block.

“He had taken materials to school for a bomb and parents weren’t told about it, so I think that’s quite serious,” she said.

“As a parent, I’m disgusted. I think at the end of the day as a parent, we should have known this child was at this school.”

Father Rob Gillett said there was “genuine concern” amongst students over the messages circulating.

“As soon as my son got the message this morning, he got out of bed and showed me straight away, he was panicked,” Mr Gillett said.

“My son and his friends are genuinely fearing, they just don’t understand what’s going to happen next. Students are getting a bit worried.”

Mr Gillett said his Year 10 son was also staying home from school.

“I’m angry, my three boys have been at the school now for eight years. This is too much,” he said.

“Enough is enough. The bombing in the toilets — parents weren’t notified of that.

“The email we got this morning from the school saying that it was a hoax, we’ve just had a gut full.

“Telling people to calm down but they’re not doing anything. Police presence, we need them.”

The series of messages comes after radicalised Year 11 student James was shot and killed by police after stabbing a stranger outside the Willetton Bunnings on Saturday night.

The content of the messages includes: “All I’m saying is Allahu Ahkbar I will kill the n...... tomorrow.”

And: “The reason I threw up gang signs in my photos is cause I always planned to shoot up at the school and f... all the n...... c... you are all going to get punished for what you have said to me in school we will prevail”.

The correspondence spread like wildfire among students and parents, prompting Mr Brown to send an email saying a “hacking incident” was to blame for the confronting claims.

Six police cars and multiple officers were seen outside the highly sought-after public high school on Tuesday morning.