6 killed in Sydney mall stabbing attack

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Six people are dead and several others injured after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday afternoon local time, one of the country’s worst mass killings in recent years. The suspect was shot dead.

Eyewitnesses described “pandemonium” as they fled from the attack, with many forced to hide in shops. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was “beyond words and understanding,” but amid the “shocking violence,” there were glimmers of heroism.

Here’s the latest if you are just joining us:

Six dead: New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said four women and a man died at the shopping mall, while a fifth woman later died at the hospital. Webb added that eight additional people are being treated for injuries at hospitals in Sydney.

Baby among those injured: A nine-month-old baby is confirmed to be among the injured and has been in surgery, Webb said. Australian media outlets have reported that the baby’s mother had died, but Webb could not confirm the reports.

Suspect shot: A police inspector shot the attacker dead on the scene. Police believe the suspect was a 40-year-old man who acted alone, but could not provide further identification details. Early indications suggest the attack was not terror-related.

“Hero” police officer: The police officer who shot the suspect is being hailed as a “hero,” with Albanese saying, “There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action.” The officer was nearby when the violence unfolded and shot the attacker when he raised his knife at her, police said.

Witnesses describe scene: Eyewitnesses described panic and “pandemonium” as fleeing shoppers fell over each other and hid in shops. One woman, Crystal Wang, told CNN she hid in a clothing store for over an hour with other shoppers. Another man told Australia’s state broadcaster ABC that the attacker was stabbing people “indiscriminately.”

Rare attack: The attack has shocked Australia, a country where mass casualty events are rare. The deadliest in its history was an April 1996 mass shooting in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, that killed 35 people and became known as the Port Arthur massacre. More recently, at least four people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting in the northern city of Darwin in 2019.

Pope Francis is “deeply saddened” by the mass stabbing that occurred at a busy shopping center in Sydney, Australia, according to a statement from the Vatican.

“He sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this senseless tragedy, especially those who are now mourning the loss of a loved one,” the statement read. “He likewise offers his prayers for the dead, injured, as well as the first responders, and invokes upon the nation the divine blessings of consolation and strength.”

Britain’s King Charles III, who is head of state in Australia, said he and his wife Queen Camilla are “utterly shocked and horrified” by the shopping mall stabbing in Sydney that left six dead.

“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who have been so brutally killed during such a senseless attack,” a statement from Buckingham Palace said.

“While details of these shocking circumstances are still emerging, our thoughts are also with those who were involved in the response, and we give thanks for the bravery of the first responders and emergency services.”

A nine-month-old baby is confirmed to be among eight victims who have been admitted to hospital following the mass stabbing attack at Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall.

New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb on Saturday confirmed that eight people are currently being treated for different injuries in hospitals around Sydney, including the infant, who has been in surgery.

Webb said “the last update I had was that it (the baby) had been in surgery and it’s too early to say really. But it’s awful.”

She could not confirm Australian media reports that the baby’s mother had died.

“I’ve heard that same rumour but I can’t confirm that,” she said.

New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said on Saturday that early indications suggest the Sydney mall stabbing attack is not terror related but cautioned that the investigation remains ongoing.

Webb told reporters that current elements do not point to a terror motive, adding however that the investigation will be ongoing “for many many days” and that it is “too early to say” what was behind the attack.

According to Webb, police believe that the suspect is a 40-year-old man but as background checks remain ongoing, she could not provide further identification details.

Webb said she was “confident” that there is no ongoing risk and that “we are dealing with one person who is now deceased.”

The suspect was shot dead at the scene by a lone officer, police earlier said.

Sydney has been left stunned after a mass stabbing at a shopping mall left at least six people dead. Here are some of the latest pictures from the scene.

Witnesses inside the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall when the attack took place have described scenes of chaos.

CNN’s Australian affiliate, 9 News Sydney, spoke to an eyewitness who said people were running through the shopping center and falling over each other, describing the situation as “pandemonium.”

Two brothers who were there told 9 News they saw a baby and mother stabbed and tried to help.

“The baby got stabbed and the mum got stabbed,” one of the brothers said.
“We were holding the baby and trying to compress the baby. Same with the mother, trying to compress the blood from stopping.”

One man described seeing a man in a green shirt stabbing others “indiscriminately.”

“[We just heard] screaming, screaming and it didn’t seem that long before we heard ‘boom boom boom’ of the gunshot and we thought, ‘We hope it’s the police,’” the witness told Australia’s state broadcaster ABC.
“[A person] is dying 10 metres away … I grabbed towels and there were three people dying around me.
“It was just carnage.”

Another man who did not give his name told ABC that the attacker would have continued his deadly rampage if the police officer had not intervened.

“If she did not shoot him, he would have kept going, he was on the rampage,” he said.

One eyewitness who was inside Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall when the attack unfolded described hiding in the back of a shop.

Crystal Wang explained how, after arriving at Westfield at around 3.20pm – just as the attack began – she walked into a clothes store where “the girls at the shop shut the door behind me and turned off lights.”

She continued: “I was really confused, and they told me someone is stabbing people with a knife in the mall. I was hiding at the back of the shop, saw some people fleeing, and then heard [a] few gun shots.”

At first, Crystal thought there had been a power cut, before she realized the severity of the situation she had found herself in.

“A siren went on and not long after, I heard gun shots and started to panic, I was worried the attacker also had a gun,” she said. “That’s when the shop assistants asked everyone to hide in their storage room.”

She added that management announcements probably made the situation worse.

“They were saying ‘all the customers please evacuate immediately.’
“We were obviously locked inside, just really confused if we should get out of the shop or stay in.
“The lady who’s making the announcement is obviously panicking as well, which just made us more anxious. She was even swearing at the end of her announcements.”

Crystal and other shoppers stayed in hiding for an hour and half, until they were able to leave.

The stabbing attack at Westfield Bondi Junction that has left six people dead has sent shockwaves across Australia, a country where mass casualty events are rare.

The most recent comparable event happened in 2019, when at least four people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting in Darwin, northern Australia.

April 1996 saw a mass shooting which became known as the Port Arthur massacre – the deadliest in Australia’s modern history – when 35 people were killed in the tourist town in the state of Tasmania.

After that incident, gun control laws in Australia were significantly tightened.

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.