2024-04-14 17:22:16
Five people were stabbed to death in an attack carried out on Saturday in a mall in Sydney, Australia, according to what a police official told reporters, without ruling out the “terrorism” hypothesis.
Police said they shot dead an attacker who stabbed five people to death in a shopping mall in the city, in the beach suburb of Bondi, on Saturday, while hundreds fled the scene.
Police said the attacker was shot by a policewoman after she clashed with nine people in the busy Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.
“This individual was shot by the police officer and died,” Anthony Cook, Assistant Commissioner of New South Wales Police, said at a press conference. “I was informed that there were five victims who died due to the actions of this perpetrator.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no indication yet of the man’s motives.
“This was a horrific act of violence that indiscriminately targeted innocent people who were shopping on an ordinary Saturday,” he said at a press conference. “The hearts of all Australians tonight are with the victims of these terrible acts.”
Australia has some of the strictest gun and firearms laws in the world, and an attack like today is rare.
“Police said that emergency services were called to the mall shortly before 4 p.m. local time (0600 GMT) after reports of the stabbing incident.
A New South Wales Ambulance spokesman said eight people, including a child, were taken to hospital.
Reyes Colmenares, a witness who hid in a hardware store with 20 others when people started running out of the mall, said she saw a child with stab wounds being carried into the ambulance.
“The mother was terrified, she was sad, and she was holding the child and calming him down,” she told Reuters.
Two other witnesses said they heard gunfire. One of them added, “Twenty minutes after people left the mall, I saw people from the SWAT teams combing the surrounding streets.”
The other reported seeing a woman on the ground taking shelter in a jewelry store.
A witness described the policewoman shooting the attacker to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, saying about the man, whose name was not mentioned, “If the policewoman had not shot him, he would have continued what he was doing. He was in a crazy state. The policewoman approached him and performed CPR on him.” He was carrying a large, polished knife. “It looked like he was intent on committing a massacre.”
Several posts on social media showed crowds fleeing the center and police cars and emergency services rushing to the area.
Last updated: April 13, 2024 – 18:26
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2024-04-14 17:22:16