At least six people died yesterday in a multiple stabbing that occurred in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center, in the east of the city of Sydney (Australia), to which should be added the attacker, killed by the police, and seven seriously injured, including a nine-month-old baby. The shopping center was especially busy as it was a summer Saturday in Australia.
Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of the New South Wales State Police, told the media that the attack had been carried out by a single individual. Preliminary investigations indicate that the assailant entered the popular shopping center at 3:10 p.m. local time, left shortly thereafter and returned about ten minutes later when he attacked “around nine people.”
A police inspector confronted the aggressor, who turned toward her with a knife in his hand, so the agent “fired her firearm” at him, according to Cooke’s story. According to a police statement, the agent performed resuscitation maneuvers on the suspect while health personnel arrived, but they were unable to revive him.
Webb explained that the attacker, a man in his forties whose identification has not yet been completed, stabbed several people in the shopping center and caused the immediate death of four women and a man.
Another woman who was stabbed died hours later in hospital, while eight other people are admitted to hospitals in the city, including a nine-month-old baby who has undergone emergency surgery. Local media suggest that the mother of the injured baby is among the fatalities.
The 9News television network was able to interview two brothers who described how they tried to help the mother and baby. “The mother came up to me with the baby and she threw it at me and I was holding the baby,” one of the brothers said. The other explained that they had tried to “compress” the baby to prevent him from bleeding. “I hope the baby is okay,” they said, although they said there was a lot of blood on the floor and that the mother had started bleeding a lot from her mouth.
“We believe that this person acted alone and there are no threats against the community at this time,” Webb added, noting that there is nothing to suggest that the killer had planned to act against a specific person.
The speed with which the alarm was declared and the evacuation decreed, through visual and audible warnings, allowed the majority of citizens to get to safety, either by leaving the building or seeking refuge in stores.
A Spanish witness to the attack, Antonio García, a worker at the Zara store located in the shopping center, explained to RAC1 his reaction upon hearing the police alarm and the shots. “We hid in a room we have in the fitting rooms,” he said. There, they remained for about fifteen minutes “waiting for what would happen.” In the end, he and his companions were evacuated by the police.
Several people captured images of the alleged attacker, armed with a large knife. A witness captured with his cell phone how a citizen confronted the attacker with a type of pole and prevented his passage on an escalator.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the bravery and fortitude of Australian citizens, as well as security and emergency teams. “For all of us tonight, the horrific scenes at Bondi Junction are beyond words and comprehension,” he said.
