6 killed in Sydney mall stabbing attack

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the Sydney mall attack as a "horrific act of violence indiscriminately targeting innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday."

Albanese could not confirm the attacker's motive but commended the officer who confronted the offender and apprehended him. He said, "She is certainly a hero. There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action."

Albanese said that he had no information about the attacker's motive and that speculation would be unhelpful now. 

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said that the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organization were working on the investigation to ascertain the motive of the attacker. 

No information has yet been given as to the attacker's identity or a possible motive.

However, New South Wales Police's Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said they are "not ruling anything out" at this stage, including terrorism.

In a news conference Saturday, Cooke said that he did not know who the offender was, and that the police were making attempts to identify him.

He added that the police are at the very early stages of the investigation. 

A sixth person has been confirmed dead following the attack at the Sydney mall, a New South Wales Police spokesperson told CNN.

Five were killed at the shopping center, and one person has since died from stab wounds in the hospital. 

The attacker was also killed by a police officer at the scene.

A single unit police inspector killed the Sydney mall attacker on level five of the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping center, according to New South Wales Police's Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke.

Cooke told reporters that the inspector was nearby and in the local area. She was a senior police inspector who was alone and engaged with the attacker when she was on the scene.

She shot the offender when he raised a knife at her.

“She discharged her firearm, and that person is now deceased,” Cooke said.

The same officer was also seen in videos on social media administering CPR to those who had been injured.

Five people have been killed after a male armed with a knife went on a rampage at a busy shopping center in Sydney on Saturday, in an attack Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described as "beyond words or understanding."

The suspect acted alone and was shot dead at the scene by an officer, police said.

Scores of other victims remain in a serious or critical condition in hospital, including a baby.