6 dead, suspect killed after stabbing attack at shopping center in Sydney, Australia; multiple people injured

SYDNEY (AP) — A man stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center Saturday before being shot dead, police said. Eight people, including a 9-month-old child, were injured in the attack.

The suspect, aged 40, began stabbing people at Westfield shopping center in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs, before a police inspector shot him after he turned and raised a knife, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Anthony Cooke said. journalists.

Six of the victims – five women and one man – as well as the suspect died. Commissioner Karen Webb said all eight injured were being treated in hospitals. The baby was in surgery, but it was too early to know his condition, she said.

“We are confident that there is no ongoing risk and we are dealing with a person who is now deceased,” Webb said at a later press briefing. She added: “This is not a terrorist incident.”

She said police have not yet identified the man and are still working to determine his motivation.

Cooke said a “lengthy and detailed” investigation was just beginning.

Cooke said the police inspector, a senior officer, was alone when she confronted the suspect and engaged him shortly after arriving at the scene, “saving the lives of many people.”

The officer “displayed tremendous courage and bravery,” Webb said.

The video showed numerous ambulances and police cars around the mall, as well as people running out.

Paramedics treated patients at the scene.

Roi Huberman, a sound engineer at ABC TV in Australia, told the channel he took shelter in a store during the incident.

“And suddenly we heard a gunshot or maybe two gunshots and we didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Then the very knowledgeable person at the store took us to the back where it can be locked. She then locked the store and then she let us through the back and now we’re outside.”