Sydney: In a shocking incident, five people died in a mass stabbing at a crowded Sydney shopping centre. According to reports, the incident took place inside Westfield Bondi Junction. Police advised residents to stay away from the area after they were summoned to the scene in response to allegations of multiple stabbings. The suspect was shot dead by a police officer.
Videos shared on social media show shoppers running from multiple exits of the shopping centre, while police helicopters can be heard overhead. The police refused to say if they had shot a suspect or whether the event had anything to do with terrorism. Eyewitnesses reported hearing shots fired amidst the commotion. One witness recounted seeing a woman lying on the ground before seeking refuge in a nearby jewellery store.
As per reports by NCA NewsWire, a man armed with a knife had allegedly stabbed four people before encountering police intervention. The police allegedly shot the attacker after he went on a rampage. The New South Wales (NSW) police issued a statement urging people to avoid the area. The statement added that inquiries are continuing about the incident and there are no further details.
The severity of the injuries sustained by the victims remains unclear at this stage, with authorities yet to confirm about any casualties. The condition of the attacker remains undisclosed. New South Wales state police confirmed the ongoing police operation at the scene but didn’t disclose further details.
The social media amidst the incident has been flooded with images and videos capturing the panic as crowds fled the area while the police cars and emergency services arrived upon the scene. Channel 9 was told that people started running and shouting: “Do not go down, there has been a stabbing, there has been a stabbing.” The news source also featured live footage of individuals receiving on-site medical attention and being loaded into ambulances.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albenese said he had been briefed on the “devastating events” at Bondi Junction. “Tragically, multiple casualties have been reported and the first thoughts of all Australians are with those affected and their loved ones,” he wrote on X.
The casualties in the incident could have been higher but a brave woman cop took on the knifeman alone and shot him dead. The attacker went on a rampage inside the mall stabbing shoppers including a nine-month-old baby. The woman cop decided to take on the attacker alone. Shoppers fled in fear as the lady police officer pursued the assailant, who was sporting an Australian Rugby League team jumper, and shot him once in the chest, killing him, according to a news.au report.
An eyewitness said that the police officer handled the situation calmly and told the attacker to drop the knife. But the attacker lunged at the cop with the knife and was shot dead by the officer. Michael Dunkley, an owner of a cafe, told an Australian news agency that the cop was put in a situation where she had to do it, he added that she did it calmly and was amazing.
Many videos flooded social media showing local citizens throwing tables and chairs at the knifeman to take him down. Another footage emerged where a man took on the knifeman with a bollard. It also shows a man in a white T-shirt trying to stop the assailant from climbing an escalator. In Australia, stabbing occurrences like these are uncommon. Approximately four individuals lost their lives and one was hurt in a mass shooting in Darwin, Northern Territory, in 2019.
In Australia, large-scale casualty incidents are uncommon. 2019 saw a mass shooting in Darwin, northern Australia, that left at least four people dead and one injured. Thirty-five people were slain in a mass shooting in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur in April 1996, which came to be renowned as the bloodiest mass shooting in contemporary Australian history.
