West Australian Police are looking for a man who had a painted swastika on his head when he allegedly attacked a woman with a flamethrower.
Police said the 40-year-old woman and her teenage daughter were approached by the man in the south-eastern Perth suburb of Gosnells on Saturday evening.
They say he yelled racial obscenities at the woman before attempting to burn her with a makeshift flamethrower made using a box of deodorant and a lighter.
The woman was slightly injured.
SERIOUS ASSAULT BY GOSNELLS
We are investigating an assault in Gosnells on Saturday February 20, 2021 seeking public assistance for information.
You can watch Detective Senior Sergeant Sean Bell’s press conference on Facebook here: https: //t.co/VelYX1e8J8 pic.twitter.com/7ohCu2GeHC
– WA Police Force (@WA_Police) February 23, 2021
WA Police want to speak with the man, who is described as fair-skinned, around 40 years old and 175cm tall.
He had a white swastika painted on his forehead at the time of the attack.
“We are taking this cowardly and random attack on a woman and her child, doing nothing more than walking to the stores in the early evening, very seriously,” Senior Detective Sgt Sean Bell said on Tuesday.
“This type of behavior is not acceptable and is not tolerated in our community.
“We have allocated all of our available resources to locate this man.
“Someone in the community knows who this person is and we ask that community member to contact us and help us identify that person.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
-AAP
