Image courtesy: The Daily Telegraph
Sydney: An Australian bomb squad safely freed a teenager who was trapped inside a Sydney home near a suspicious device on Wednesday, ending a horrifying 10-hour ordeal.
Police still don't know whether the device is an explosive but are looking for a person who police believe placed the device in the woman's home, New South Wales state Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said.
"We want to get our hands on who's done this," Murdoch told reporters.
Police said they were called to the house in the wealthy suburb of Mosman by the 18-year-old woman at around 2:30 pm.
They kept a tight lid on information throughout the ordeal, and while Murdoch said the suspicious device was found near the teen, he refused to confirm reports it had been tethered to her body. The device was still intact upon the girl's release, he said.
The teen was doing well and was with her parents, he said.
"She's good - she's been kept in a very uncomfortable position," Murdoch said. "She has been and will be uncomfortable for a little while to come."
Murdoch said it was "far too early to say" whether the device had been placed in the teen's home as part of an extortion attempt, and refused to comment on a report that a note had been left alongside the device. He said police have no ideas as to a motive.
"The family is at a loss to explain this," he said. "You would hardly think that someone would go to this much trouble if there wasn't a motive behind it."
Murdoch described the device as "very elaborate, very sophisticated."
"The manner in which it was located in proximity to the young lady was such that it has taken us the better part of 10 hours to secure her release," he said.
Murdoch said the state police consulted with Australia's federal police agency and the British military during the ordeal.
"We have left absolutely no stone unturned to make sure that we met our objective - and that objective always was the safety of the young lady," he said.
Investigators planned to comb the house for clues throughout the night.
Police still don't know whether the device is an explosive but are looking for a person who police believe placed the device in the woman's home, New South Wales state Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said.
"We want to get our hands on who's done this," Murdoch told reporters.
Police said they were called to the house in the wealthy suburb of Mosman by the 18-year-old woman at around 2:30 pm.
They kept a tight lid on information throughout the ordeal, and while Murdoch said the suspicious device was found near the teen, he refused to confirm reports it had been tethered to her body. The device was still intact upon the girl's release, he said.
The teen was doing well and was with her parents, he said.
"She's good - she's been kept in a very uncomfortable position," Murdoch said. "She has been and will be uncomfortable for a little while to come."
Murdoch said it was "far too early to say" whether the device had been placed in the teen's home as part of an extortion attempt, and refused to comment on a report that a note had been left alongside the device. He said police have no ideas as to a motive.
"The family is at a loss to explain this," he said. "You would hardly think that someone would go to this much trouble if there wasn't a motive behind it."Murdoch described the device as "very elaborate, very sophisticated."
"The manner in which it was located in proximity to the young lady was such that it has taken us the better part of 10 hours to secure her release," he said.
Murdoch said the state police consulted with Australia's federal police agency and the British military during the ordeal.
"We have left absolutely no stone unturned to make sure that we met our objective - and that objective always was the safety of the young lady," he said.
Investigators planned to comb the house for clues throughout the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment