The lone knifeman attacked shoppers on Saturday afternoon at the Westfield shopping centre in eastern Sydney.
In a spree of stabbings at a retail centre in Sydney, a knife attacker left six people dead and numerous others injured before being shot and killed by police.
On Saturday afternoon, a lone man with a knife attacked customers at the Bondi Junction shopping centre in eastern Sydney’s Westfield district.
The attacker lifted a knife and lunged at the female New South Wales Police inspector, who shot him dead.
The assailant was a 40-year-old guy that the police knew, but they stressed that they did not believe terrorism was the reason behind his actions.
Emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction following reports that multiple people had been stabbed at 3.30pm (6.30am UK time). Four women and a man died in the shopping centre, and another woman later died in hospital, according to police. A nine-month-old infant has undergone surgery, and “about eight” people, including the child, are in hospitals around Sydney receiving treatment for “different injuries” as a result of the attack.
Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of New South Wales Police, said a police officer “confronted the offender”.
At a press conference, he said: “As she continued to walk quickly behind to catch up with him he turned to face her, raised a knife, she discharged a firearm and that person is now deceased.”
He added: “This all happened very, very quickly – the officer that was in the vicinity attended on her own, was guided to the location of the offender by people who were in the centre.
“She took the actions that she did saving a range of people’s lives; (she was) an inspector, a senior police officer – she was on her own. She engaged immediately on her arrival to the scene.”
Scotland’s First Minister said the country “stands in solidarity” with Australia following the stabbing.
In a post on X – formerly Twitter – Humza Yousaf said: “Dreadful scenes from Bondi Junction.
“My thoughts and prayers with all of those who have lost a loved one, are injured & traumatised.
“We stand in solidarity with our Australian community here in Scotland, across the UK and Australians worldwide @AusHouseLondon.”
ABC News Australia spoke to a witness, who did not want to be identified, and reported that the person “saw a bloke in a green shirt start stabbing people indiscriminately”.
Footage emerged of a man with a knife in shorts and a green and yellow shirt being confronted by another man on an escalator.
Another witness at the centre said the attacker was “on a killing spree”.
The shopper, who was not named, told ABC News of the moment he was shot: “He just started floating towards us and all I heard was ‘put it down’ and then she shot him.
“But we were in no doubt, if she didn’t shoot him, he would have kept going. He was on the rampage.
“Then she walked over and gave him CPR. He had a big blade on him – she chucked the knife away.
It appeared as though he was on a murderous rampage.
A man at the mall claimed to have assisted the stabbing infant.
“The baby got stabbed,” the dad said to 9News Sydney. After the mother was wounded, she rushed over with the infant and tossed it at me; the baby looked quite awful when I held it.
“There was a lot of blood on the floor,” he continued. I’m hoping the baby is doing well.
Another customer in the mall close to Bondi Beach in Australia expressed her belief that she was “going to die.”
The anonymous customer said to ABC News, “I was hiding in the backroom.” I could hear gunfire.
“Who does that to people? That’s just the worst thing ever!”
“I believed I was going to pass away. I was so afraid that every thought was replaying itself in my mind.
