Man charged over alleged Australian National University stabbing

A former student accused of attacking four students on a university campus has been charged with a series of offenses and appeared in court.

Alex Ophel, 24, was arrested by police after two young female students were allegedly stabbed at the Australian National University in Canberra on Monday afternoon.

Police also alleged he hit a male student on the head with a frying pan at nearby Fellows Oval and later punched a second male student in the face.

Ophel has been around ever since charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted assault and one count of possession of an object capable of killing.

“No motive for the incident has been identified and police do not believe the victims knew the perpetrator,” ACT Policing said in a statement.

The two women who were probably stabbed, both 20 years old, were still in hospital on Tuesday. One is in a serious but stable condition.

Police opposed bail when Ophel briefly appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning.

Ophel’s lawyer was not confident that he could accurately follow his client’s instructions due to his mental state.

The lawyer asked the court for more time so that he can receive instructions from Ophel and “see if he can understand me.”

The matter was adjourned until later on Tuesday.

Police have yet to determine why Ophel was on campus.

“We have not been able to determine a motive at this time. The man’s movements and how he came to be at the ANU are currently the subject of the police investigation,” Acting Chief Inspector Stephanie Leonard told reporters.

‘It is clear that any violent crime is worrying. The ANU and Canberra are generally very safe places and incidents like this are extremely rare.”

The police investigation into the incident continues.

‘Anyone who witnessed the incident or has footage of the incident and has not yet spoken to police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers

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