6 killed, several injured after knife attack in Sydney mall
At least six people have been killed and several others injured after a man used a knife to attack people at the Westfield Bondi Junction retail complex in Sydney on Saturday. Eight other people, including a nine-month-old baby, have also been stabbed, New South Wales Ambulance said. Anthony Cooke, New South Wales police acting commissioner, told a press conference on Saturday that the unidentified suspect was killed by a police officer.
Police respond to violent incident at Bondi Junction
Emergency services were dispatched to Westfield Bondi Junction, a large shopping center in Sydney's east, at 4:00pm (local time), following reports of multiple stabbings. "A critical incident has commenced following the shooting of a male at Bondi Junction," police stated. Video footage showed several police and ambulance trucks at the scene, and photographs on social media appeared to show multiple casualties as well as a man brandishing a huge knife.
Motive for attack yet to be established
The motive for the attack has yet to be established. At a press conference, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that speculation "would be unhelpful at this time, we should allow the investigators to go about their work." He described the attack as "beyond words or understanding." Preliminary investigations show this person has acted alone and police say there is "no continuing threat" to the public.
Visuals inside the mall
Such attacks are rare in Australia
Such attacks are rare in Australia, which has some of the world's strictest gun and knife laws. In April 1996, a gunman, Martin Bryant, murdered 35 individuals at a former prison colony and tourist attraction in Tasmania using semi-automatic weapons. This mass shooting became known as the Port Arthur massacre, and it marked a watershed moment for Australia. The event sparked widespread outrage and led to Australia enacting some of the world's strictest firearm laws.
