Police used reasonable force in Brisbane’s CBD when they fatally shot an armed man who had stabbed a tourist in the back, a coroner has found.
Police used reasonable force in Brisbane’s CBD when they fatally shot an armed man who had stabbed a tourist in the back, a coroner has found.
By Rex Martinich
February 23, 2025 — 1.14pm
Police used reasonable force when they fatally shot an armed man in Brisbane’s CBD, and they acted professionally when investigating the incident as a potential act of terrorism, a coroner has found.
Mohamad Ikraam Bahram was fired upon by two Queensland Police officers in Mary Street at 10.09am on February 23, 2020.
Minutes earlier, the 24-year-old had arrived in the CBD by car and stabbed a British tourist in the back with enough force to snap the blade.
State Coroner Terry Ryan said he accepted a Joint Counter-Terrorism report that found no evidence to indicate Bahram’s actions constituted a terrorist attack. Instead, they were likely indicative of a mental health episode from a person diagnosed with schizophrenia, Ryan found.
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The coroner did not accept that Bahram intended to kill the tourist, who survived the attack.
After the stabbing, Bahram returned to his car and retrieved a 30-centimetre knife with a serrated blade.
Multiple people called triple zero to report the assault and a man walking the streets with a knife in hand.
Two officers arrived in Mary Street in a marked police van with lights and sirens after responding to the calls.
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Videos from their body-worn cameras showed Bahram sprinting with a large knife directly towards a constable, who yelled at him to drop the weapon several times.
When Bahram did not comply, both officers fired their service weapons, inflicting fatal injuries to his heart and liver.
In findings released last week, Ryan said the officers acted proportionately to an armed and potentially active offender who had wounded a person.
“The evidence showed they only had a matter of seconds to respond to [Bahram] when they arrived at Mary Street,” Ryan said.
“They were not aware of his background in terms of his mental health history, and had to respond to the highly dynamic situation.”
Bahram’s family had submitted to the inquest that police mischaracterised the investigation as terrorism-related without clear justification, especially given their explanation about his mental health issues.
The family said their grieving had been disrupted and their reputation damaged by the investigators’ use of a search warrant to enter their home.
Ryan said it was not unreasonable for officers to exhaust all lines of inquiry into the motivation behind Bahram’s actions.
“The experience of having [Queensland and Australian Federal Police officers] in the family home in the immediate aftermath of [Bahram’s] death was distressing, particularly in terms of Islamic cultural practices,” Ryan said.
“However … the verbal communication with the family by officers during the execution of the search warrants was respectful.”
Ryan accepted that Metro South Health, which had been treating Bahram, had since improved its violence risk assessment and management system for mental health patients.
If you or someone you know needs help, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.
AAP
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