Sydney police have arrested a student from the same high school attended by the teenage gunman who shot dead police accountant Curtis Cheng outside Parramatta police headquarters on Friday.
The Arthur Phillip high school student was handcuffed and had his belongings emptied on to the footpath while on his way to school, the ABC reported on Tuesday.
The teenager was arrested just after 8.30am after he allegedly threatened and intimidated police who were speaking him about posts on social media. He was taken to Parramatta police station.
A student from the school, Farhad Jabar Khalil Mohammad, 15, shot Cheng dead on Friday afternoon outside the Parramatta police headquarters and was shot dead by police.
Students in New South Wales returned to school on Tuesday after a two-week holiday.
The NSW Department of Education said counselling services would be offered to students and staff at Arthur Phillip after Friday’s shooting.
Police had warned people about posts on social media on Monday. At least one page, which praised Farhad as a hero, was taken down at their request.
NSW deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas warned posts inciting violence could constitute a crime, after one on Facebook by an extreme right-wing group called for retaliation killings at mosques.
“It’s very disappointed to see that group and many other groups probably join them in really abhorrent calls for violence,” Kaldas said on Monday.
“It’s not the answer. It won’t solve anything and I urge anyone who has any influence over those people to stop that from happening.”
Police have become increasingly vigilant about possible revenge attacks over the past few days but Kaldas told people it was important not to overreact.
“The bad guys win if we are divided, if we stop living our normal lives, if we don’t do what we want to do,” he said.
