Victoria police say Friday’s arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne is being treated as an act of terrorism.
The Victoria police chief commissioner, Shane Patton, made the declaration about Friday’s Ripponlea fire being regarded as a suspected terrorist attack on Monday morning.
He said the decision followed advice provided at a meeting between Victoria police, the Australian federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio).
“Based on that, I am very confident that we now have had an attack – a terrorist attack – on that synagogue,” Patton said at a press conference, alongside the AFP’s deputy commissioner, Krissy Barrett, and the state premier, Jacinta Allan.
He said it was “clear” that the fire was “targeted, it was callous and an horrific attack on the synagogue”.
“But by default, it’s an attack on the Jewish people,” he said.
Patton said police were searching for three suspects over the fire, which occurred early on Friday morning. About 60 firefighters and 17 trucks were called to the site about 4.10am.
He said the investigation will be handed over from the arson squad to the joint counter-terrorism team, consisting of Victoria police, AFP and Asio officers.
“What concerns me is the callous nature of this attack, the emboldened nature of this attack, and the fact that the attack has taken place where it occurred,” Patton said.
“When you have a crime like this that strikes at the fabric of the community. That is very, very concerning to us.”
Barrett said the declaration allows for “more powers, more capability and more intelligence”.
“I want to thank Victoria police investigators for the significant information they have gathered so far, which has helped lead us to believe that this is likely to be politically motivated attack,” she said.
“This is now a terrorism investigation.”
Allan said the fire was an “evil attack” and vowed to support the Addas Israel community rebuild the synagogue.
Patton said he did not believe firearms were involved in the incident, despite the discovery of a “very old damaged two calibre bullet” on the footpath outside the synagogue “many hours after this attack”.
“We have nothing to suggest whatsoever that has any connection with [the arson attack]. Nonetheless, as a result of completeness, we’ve taken that away for examination,” he said.
The synagogue has sustained significant damage and has been boarded up.
Floral tributes and notes have been left outside, as well as signs from the synagogue saying “We will rebuild”. The Victorian government has already committed $100,000 to the rebuild effort and the community had raised about $300,000 online.
Meir Chaim Spigelman, president of the Adass Israel community, said it was too early to know the extent of the damage but expected it would run into the “tens of millions of dollars”.
“Initially, we thought it wasn’t so bad because the structure outside has stayed intact but inside, it has been completely destroyed,” he said.
“The fire tore everything apart except for our scriptures. They aren’t burnt but the heat has singed some of them.”
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has for days accused the federal government of dragging its feet in declaring the fire an act of terrorism, and creating a hostile climate for the Jewish community.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Sunday said he personally believed the attack met the criteria for being labelled a terrorist act but that there was a process to be followed.
