At least six people died yesterday in a multiple stabbing that took place in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center, east of the city of Sydney (Australia), to which should be added the attacker, shot by the police, and seven wounded serious, including a nine-month-old child. The mall was especially busy being a summer Saturday in Australia.
Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of the New South Wales State Police, informed 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 3.10pm local time, left shortly after and returned about ten minutes later, when he pounced on "around nine people".
A police inspector confronted the assailant, who turned on her with a knife in his hand, so the officer “fired the firearm” at him, according to Cooke's account . According to a police statement, the officer performed resuscitation maneuvers on the suspect while medical personnel arrived, who were unable to revive him.
Webb explained that the assailant, a man in his forties whose identification has not yet been completed, stabbed several people in the shopping center and caused the death of four women and a man on the spot.
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 infant who underwent emergency surgery. Local media claim that the mother of the injured baby is one of the fatalities.
The television channel 9News was able to interview two brothers who explained how they tried to help the mother and the child. "The mother approached me with the child and threw it to me and I held it," said one of the brothers. The other explained that they had tried to "compress" the baby to prevent it from bleeding. "I hope the baby is okay," they noted, although they said there was a lot of blood on the floor and that the mother had started bleeding profusely from the mouth.
"We believe that this individual acted alone and at this time there are no threats against the community," added Webb, who noted that there was nothing to suggest that the killer had intended to act against a specific person.
The speed with which the alarm was declared and the evacuation decreed, through visual and audible warnings, allowed most citizens to get out of danger by leaving the building or seeking shelter in the shops .
A Spanish witness to the attack, Antonio García, a worker at the Zara store located in the shopping center, explained to RAC1 the reaction when he heard the police alarm and the shots. "We hid in a habit we have in the fitting rooms", he assured. They stayed there for about fifteen minutes "waiting for what was happening". In the end, he and his colleagues were evacuated by the police.
Several people captured images of the alleged attacker, armed with a large knife. A witness captured with his mobile phone how a citizen confronted the attacker with a kind of stick and prevented him from passing on an escalator.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the bravery and bravery of Australian citizens, as well as the security and emergency teams. "For all of us tonight, the horrific scenes at Bondi Junction are beyond words and understanding," he said.
