Australian police say they disrupted Melbourne bomb plot

09-05-2015 17:49

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had been briefed that the bomb plot had been in a "reasonably advanced state of preparation."

Abbott urged Australians to keep the terrorist danger in perspective and to avoid changing their way of life.

"The best thing that you can do right now is to live your life normally because the whole point of terrorism is to scare us out of being ourselves," Abbott told reporters.

The teen was driving from his home with a woman when he was stopped by police, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill said. Police then ordered three occupants of the house to come outside, he said. Media reported they came out with their hands up.

The boy's father is reportedly a doctor of Syrian background. The family was unaware that bombs were stored in their two-story home.

Hill said "his family are a caring, loving family that are now very, very distraught as a consequence of what is alleged."

"It has undoubtedly taken them by surprise," Hill said.

Phelan described the homemade bombs as "very rudimentary." Their destructive capacity had yet to be assessed, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report