() – Six people were killed and several others injured, including a child, in a mass stabbing in a busy Sydney shopping centre, Australian police reported this Saturday.
The incident took place inside the Westfield shopping center in Bondi Junction.
Officers said they were called to the scene after receiving reports of multiple people being stabbed.
The suspect, who police say acted alone, was killed at the scene and had no prior contact with Australian counterterrorism officials, a police source briefed on the investigation told .
However, the suspect has had at least one encounter with NSW Police in the past related to mental health issues, according to the source.
Police previously said they believe the stabbing, which left six dead and several injured, is not terrorism-related, but they were “not ruling anything out” as to a motive for the attack.
New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Anthony Cooke said a senior police inspector was nearby when the attack occurred.
She arrived at the scene first and was alone when she confronted the attacker. He shot the attacker when he pointed a knife at him.
“He discharged his firearm and that person is deceased,” Cooke stated.
The agent was also seen in videos on social media doing CPR on the injured.
The suspect encountered nine people after entering the mall at 3:10 p.m. local time, according to police. He left and re-entered the shopping center at 3.20pm before carrying out his attack.
No information has been provided about the identity of the perpetrator or a possible motive, but Cooke said they were “not ruling anything out.”
After warning people to stay away from the area, police now say the incident has ended.
Eight patients, including a child, have been transferred to Sydney hospitals, the New South Wales Ambulance Service confirmed to . They have not wanted to specify whether the injured are men or women or what their current condition is.
Videos shared on social media show people running from various exits of the shopping center, while police helicopters can be heard flying over the area.
“Pandemonium”
affiliate 9 News Sydney spoke to a witness who said people were running through the mall and falling over each other, describing the situation as “pandemonium.”
Channel 9 was told that people started running and shouting, “Don’t come down, there’s been a stabbing, there’s been a stabbing.”
The news outlet also showed live video of people being loaded into ambulances and treated at the scene.
Two witnesses told 9 News they saw a baby and his mother stabbed. “The baby was stabbed and the mother was stabbed,” they said.
Mass casualty events are rare in Australia. At least four people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting in Darwin, northern Australia, in 2019.
A mass shooting that became known as the Port Arthur massacre, the deadliest in modern Australian history, occurred in April 1996 when 35 people were killed in the resort town in the state of Tasmania.
This news has been updated with information developments.
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