Terrorism · Parramatta, NSW
NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng shot dead outside Parramatta headquarters
A 15-year-old shot police finance worker Curtis Cheng outside NSW Police headquarters in an act police described as terrorism.
First published 3 October 2015 · ABC News
At about 4:30pm on Friday 2 October 2015, Curtis Cheng, a civilian finance worker with the NSW Police Force, was shot in the back of the head as he left police headquarters in Parramatta, Sydney. He died at the scene.
The gunman, 15-year-old Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, then fired at officers coming out of the building and was shot dead by special constables guarding the headquarters.
NSW Police said the attack was politically motivated and treated it as a terrorism offence.
What happened next
Several men were later charged over their links to the attack, and Raban Alou was convicted of terrorism offences in 2018. A coronial inquest delivered findings on 5 June 2026. It found authorities had no reasonable opportunity to anticipate or prevent the attack.
Sources
- NSW Police headquarters gunman identified as Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar — ABC News, 3 October 2015
- Inquest into the death of Curtis Cheng (findings) — Coroners Court of NSW, 5 June 2026
Dates
- Event
- 2 October 2015
- First published (2015)
- 3 October 2015, ABC News
- Added to this archive
- 20 October 2026
- Last updated
- 20 October 2026
Retrospective summary, added to this archive on 20 October 2026. It was written later from the contemporary reports listed above.