SYDNEY: An attacker who fatally knifed six people in a Sydney mall was shot dead by police in the beachside suburb of Bondi on Saturday, the police said, as hundreds fled the scene. The assailant was shot by a police officer after he attacked shoppers in the busy Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, a police statement said.
Five of the six victims killed were women, while eight people, including a nine-month-old baby, were taken to hospital with stab wounds, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told a press conference.
Police at this stage do not believe the attack was terrorism-related, Webb said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no indication yet of the man’s motive.
“This was a horrific act of violence, indiscriminately targeting innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday doing their shopping,” he told a press conference.
“Tonight the first thoughts of all Australians are with the victims of these terrible acts.”
Australia, a country of about 26 million people, has some of the world’s toughest gun and knife laws, and attacks such as the one on Saturday are rare.
Meanwhile, an Indian-origin couple hid in a backroom and barricaded themselves with cardboard boxes along with dozens when the attack took place. A media report stated Shoi Ghoshal (36) and her husband Debashis Chakrabarty they were inside a store when it became clear something was wrong. Ghosal said they heard some people rushing inside the store and thought fire had broken out but “people were saying someone is stabbing rampantly”. “We went into a backroom, a storeroom, and used boxes to barricade ourselves in,” she said, estimating that there were between 20 to 25 people huddling inside. Ghosal said an elderly woman was crying for her husband who was still outside. She explained how when the group made calls to the police, they relayed to them what was happening and told them to “stay there, stay calm”. The group was later evacuated through the emergency exit of the mall.