SYDNEY (AP) — A man who stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping center Saturday was shot dead, police said. Eight people including a 9-month-old baby were injured in the attack.
The 40-year-old suspect began stabbing people at the Westfield shopping center at Bondi Junction in the city's eastern suburbs before a police inspector raised a knife and shot him dead, New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cook said. Reporters.
Six of the victims — five women and one man — and the suspect died. Commissioner Karen Webb said eight people were injured and were being treated at hospitals. The child underwent surgery, but it was too early to know the condition, he said.
“We believe there is no danger at this time and we are dealing with a person who is now deceased,” Webb later told a news conference. He added: This is not a terrorist incident.
Rick Rycroft / AB
He said police have yet to identify the man and are still trying to determine his motivation.
Cook said the “long and thorough” investigation was just beginning.
Cook, a police inspector, said a senior officer was alone when he confronted the suspect and engaged him on his arrival at the scene, “saving many lives”.
Webb said the officer “showed tremendous courage and bravery.”
The video showed several ambulances and police cars surrounding the shopping center and people running out.
Medical personnel were treating patients at the scene.
Roy Huberman, a sound engineer at ABC TV in Australia, told the network he took refuge in a store during the incident.
“All of a sudden we heard a shot or two and we didn't know what to do,” he said. “Then the very efficient person in the store took it to the back where it could be locked. She locked the store and then she let us through the back and now we're out.”
