An incident in which a van carrying gas bottles rammed into the Canberra headquarters of the Australian Christian Lobby and exploded last night was not “politically, religiously or ideologically motivated”, according to police.
In a statement released this morning, ACT Policing said they had spoken to a 35-year-old man who had presented himself at Canberra Hospital with serious burn injuries and were “able to establish the man’s actions were not politically, religiously or ideologically motivated”.
“Investigations are ongoing; however it is unknown when police will be able to speak with the man further, due to his medical condition,” the statement said.
ACT Policing Deputy Chief Police Officer Mark Walters added that officers are “conducting a thorough investigation and there is no threat to public safety”.
Police said they first received a report of the incident in the suburb of Deakin at about 9.35pm Wednesday night. “The driver appears to have ignited gas cylinders within the vehicle, causing an explosion which damaged the vehicle and building,” the police statement said.
No-one was believed to be in the office at the time.
On Wednesday night, Lyle Shelton, managing director of the ACL, tweeted after the incident that a vehicle had “rammed our office in Canberra & exploded”.
“All staff are safe. I do not know the condition of the driver. Prayers appreciated.” He later added that he was “[s]hocked that this could happen in Australia”.
Early Thursday morning an emotional Mr Shelton told reporters that while he didn’t know the motivation for the incident, it came in the context of multiple death threats this year, mainly from anonymous callers, over the organisation’s stance on issues such as same-sex marriage and on the controversial Safe Schools program.
