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A attorney described it as “disturbing and alarming” that the Southport attacker probably viewed online material showing a stabbing incident in Australia by a teenage boy only 40 minutes prior to committing his own crimes.

Inquiry into Tragic Events

An official inquiry is currently underway into the circumstances leading up to the attack by the perpetrator, who was a teenager at the time, on the date of the incident. During the attack, he killed three young girls and tried to kill multiple minors and several older individuals.

During proceedings, a representative outlined the focus of the inquiry, which will explore the sequence of events and interactions the attacker had with various public services, including law enforcement, schools, welfare services, and healthcare.

Deliberate Character of the Attack

Officials noted that the attack was “deeply disturbing” and specifically targeted female victims. With the exception of one male victim during the event, every one of the remaining individuals harmed were girls or women.

Moss described the attacker as a “heavy consumer of online content” and noted that the teenager had deleted his browsing history prior to the incident. But, data showed he had used a separate tablet to look up videos of a stabbing by a young person in Australia.

Social Media Companies Under Scrutiny

Investigators has asked for details from social media companies Facebook/Instagram’s parent and formerly Twitter regarding the attacker’s activity on their platforms. Officials stated that the individual had probably viewed violent material on X just before the incident.

“One could perhaps consider it alarming and troubling that nearly the final action AR did before committing these dreadful crimes was to search for and possibly view content on Twitter in relation to a stabbing.”

Dangerous Items and Internet Purchases

The inquiry will also look into how Rudakubana acquired weapons such as knives, projectile weapons, and large knives by pretending to be an adult and using a false name. Additionally, he bought plant materials through Amazon to make a basic form of ricin”.

Officials have requested detailed statements from Rudakubana’s parents to determine their awareness of his internet purchases and the objects he kept in his room and home.

Continuing Investigation

One key focus of the inquiry is to determine which agencies or entities were responsible for action to intervene given the risks Rudakubana had shown before the attack.

The chair of the investigation vowed to do everything “within their power” to answer the questions of grieving relatives and victims. Proceedings continues in the coming days.