Five people have been killed in a mass stabbing at a busy shopping centre in Sydney, Australian police said. Police were summoned to Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon, at 4 p.m. local time, after reports of many persons being stabbed.
New South Wales Ambulance has confirmed eight people have been taken to hospital- including a baby- after the attack at Bondi Junction. Three have been sent to St Vincent's, two to Royal Prince Alfred, one to St George, and one to the Royal North Shore.
A paediatric patient was also taken to Sydney Children's Hospital. The perpetrator, who police say acted alone, was shot dead on the spot by a single officer.
New South Wales Police’s Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said the suspect entered the shopping centre at about 3:10 p.m. "I know that he ... left for a short period and returned at 20 past three," before the events then unfolded.
No information has been provided about his identity or suspected purpose, although Cooke stated that they were "not ruling anything out." After warning people to stay away from the area police say the incident is now over.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was told of the "devastating events" at Bondi Junction.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he is "thinking of all those families whose loved ones" have been affected by the attack.
Mass casualty events are rare in Australia. A mass shooting in Darwin, northern Australia, in 2019 killed at least four people and injured one.
April 1996 saw a mass shooting which became known as the Port Arthur massacre – the deadliest in Australia’s modern history – when 35 people were killed in the tourist town in the state of Tasmania.
Australia: Five people dead in mass stabbing in Sydney shopping centre
