A knifeman killed six people during a rampage in Sydney today.
What Happened?
Five women and one man were killed and three more were stabbed during the rampage that left multiple people critically injured including a mother and her baby on the start of the Australian school holidays.
Other victims critically injured in the attack at Bondi Junction Westfield mall at around 3.30pm local time included a mother and her nine-month-old baby.
Details of the Attack
The attacker was in the mall at 3pm but left and returned at 3.20pm with a knife. He attacked the mother and child at 3.30pm before police arrived at 3.45pm and the mall was placed under lockdown at 4pm.
Cause of Attack
The baby is undergoing surgery in hospital. The motive was not immediately clear and police have not ruled out terrorism.
The Knifeman is Killed
He was shot and killed by a hero female police officer, who apprehended the knifeman alone after being on patrol nearby.
The Sydney knifeman was a 40-year-old and his attack is not thought to be terror-related, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.
The Sydney knifeman was a 40-year-old and his attack is not thought to be terror-related, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.
Official Statement
Ms Webb told a press conference: ‘Later this evening we became aware of who we believe the offender is and we believe that he is a 40-year-old man.
‘If in fact it is the person that we believe it is, then we don’t have fears for that person holding an ideation – in other words, that it’s not a terrorism incident.
She added: ‘He is known to law enforcement but we are waiting to identify him formally.’
Multiple other shoppers have been injured in the attack and taken to hospitals across the city.
A Baby is a Victim
The baby is being treated at Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick. Another victim was rushed to St George Hospital and someone else to Royal North Shore Hospital.
Three were taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst and two more to the Royal Prince Alfred in Camperdown.
Bystanders said they had seen multiple people outside the shopping centre in the city’s eastern suburbs with blood on their clothes.
