Sydney knife attacker shoots dead at least six people at busy shopping center, police say

A man stabbed six people to death before being shot dead at a busy Sydney shopping center on Saturday, police said. The attack left eight people injured, including a nine-month-old child.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said the 40-year-old suspect began stabbing people at Westfield Shopping Center in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs, before turning around and raising a knife. The police inspector shot him dead. reporters.

Six of the victims (five women and one man) and the suspect were killed. Commissioner Karen Webb said eight injured people were being treated at hospitals. The baby was undergoing surgery, but it was too early to know the condition.

“We are confident that there is no ongoing risk and we are currently dealing with one person who has died,” Webb said at a later news conference. He further added that he said: “This is not a terrorist incident.”

She said police had not yet identified the man and were working to determine a motive.

Mr Cook said a “long and rigorous” investigation had just begun.

Mr Cooke said the senior police inspector, who was alone, confronted the suspect and engaged him immediately after arriving at the scene, “saving the lives of various people”.

Mr Webb said the officers “showed tremendous courage and bravery”.

Video showed dozens of ambulances and police cars surrounding the shopping center and people streaming out.

Paramedics were treating the patient at the scene.

Roy Huberman, a sound engineer for Australia’s ABC Television, told the station that he had taken shelter inside the store during the incident.

“Then all of a sudden I heard one or two gunshots and I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Then a very efficient person in the store took us to the back where it was locked. She then locked the store and then let us go to the back and now we are outside. I am.”