Australia: 5 killed after multiple stabbings in a Sydney mall, several victims including a 9-month baby injured

Sydney April 13: In a horrifying development, five people were killed in a Sydney shopping mall on Saturday after multiple stabbings that left multiple people injured, including a 9-month-old baby, according to police. The attacker too has been shot dead by the police.

 

 

 

The incident took place at a Westfield shopping centre at Bondi junction, Sydney, around 3.20 pm (local time) on Saturday afternoon (13th April) when a man in an NRL jersey began stabbing shoppers at random, including a woman and her nine-month-old baby. A police inspector shot him, Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters. Hundreds of people were evacuated from the shopping centre after the incident and the police advised people not to go there.

Several posts on social media showed crowds fleeing the mall and police cars and emergency services rushing to the area.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was informed about the shopping mall attack at Bondi Junction. "Tragically, multiple casualties have been reported and the first thoughts of all Australians are with those affected and their loved ones. Our hearts go out to those injured and we offer our thanks to those caring for them as well as our brave police and first respondersm" he said on X.

"A critical incident has commenced following the shooting of a male at Bondi Junction. Just before 4 pm (Saturday 13 April 2024), emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction following reports of multiple people stabbed. People are urged to avoid the area. Inquiries are continuing in relation to the incident and there are no further details," said the New South Wales police in a statement.

A New South Wales Ambulance spokesperson said that eight people, including a child, had been taken to hospital. "If she did not shoot him, he would have kept going, he was on the rampage," said an eyewitness, who saw the attacker being shot. "She went over and was giving him CPR. He had a nice big blade on him. He looked like he was on a killing spree."

This came a day after a 16-year-old boy was charged with murder after two stabbings, one of which resulted in the death of another teenager, near a school in western Sydney on Friday. Emergency services responded to reports that two teenagers had been stabbed near a school on Power Street in Doonside at about 3:40 pm on Friday.