Sydney — A guy stabbed six people to death at a major Sydney shopping mall Saturday before being fatally shot, according to police, with hundreds fleeing the chaotic scene, many of whom were weeping while carrying their children. Eight individuals were hurt, including a nine-month-old.
The 40-year-old was stopped in the knife assault at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs, by a police inspector who shot him after he turned and lifted a knife, according to New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke.
‘Run, Run, Run’: Chaos At A Sydney Mall As 6 People Stabbed To Death, And The Suspect Fatally Shot
“They just said run, run, run—someone’s been stabbed,” one witness told ABC TV in Australia. “(The attacker) was walking casually, as if enjoying an ice cream in a park. And then he went up the escalators… and within about a minute, we heard three gunshots.
The suspect, as well as six of the victims (five women and one guy), died. Commissioner Karen Webb stated that the eight injured people were treated in hospitals. The infant was in surgery, but it was too early to determine his condition, she said.
“We are confident that there is no ongoing risk, and we are dealing with one person who is now deceased,” Webb said in a later briefing. She continued, “It’s not a terrorism incident.”
She stated that authorities would not name the individual yet and were still investigating his motivation.
Cooke stated that a “lengthy and precise” examination had barely begun.
Some observers were astounded by the unusual surge of violence. In 1996, a man killed 35 people and wounded 23 others in Tasmania, prompting Australia to pass tough gun prohibitions.
‘Run, Run, Run’: Chaos At A Sydney Mall As 6 People Stabbed To Death, And The Suspect Fatally Shot
Cooke stated that the police inspector, a senior officer, addressed the suspect alone and engaged him shortly after arriving on the scene, “saving a range of people’s lives.”
The cop “displayed enormous courage and bravery,” Webb stated.
“If she didn’t shoot, he would have kept going, and I don’t know how many more he would have done,” another witness told 7News of the police inspector.
Many ambulances and police cars were seen near the shopping complex, and individuals were flowing out, many carrying youngsters.
Paramedics were treating victims on the spot.
Roi Huberman, a sound engineer at ABC TV in Australia, told the network that he took shelter in a store during the event.
“And suddenly we heard a shot or maybe two shots, and we didn’t know what to do,” he recalled. Then, the highly capable person at the store led us to the back, where it could be locked. She then shut the store, let us through the back, and we’re now out.”
‘Run, Run, Run’: Chaos At A Sydney Mall As 6 People Stabbed To Death, And The Suspect Fatally Shot
The most senior members of the British royal family, who are also Australian royals, voiced shock and sadness following the stabbings.
King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla were “utterly shocked and horrified” by the “senseless attack” in Sydney and expressed their “hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who have been so brutally killed.” The king’s eldest son, Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, said they were also “shocked and saddened” and their sympathies with those impacted and the “heroic emergency responders who risked their own lives to save others.”
SOURCE – (AP)
