DPA
London
A knife attacker killed six people and injured several others in a stabbing spree at a Sydney shopping centre before being shot dead by police.
The lone knifeman attacked shoppers on Saturday afternoon at the Westfield shopping centre in the suburb of Bondi Junction in eastern Sydney.
A female New South Wales Police inspector confronted the attacker on her own and shot him dead as he raised a knife and lunged at her. Police said they had identified the attacker as a 40-year-old man who was known to them, but added that they do not think he was motivated by terrorism.
Four women and a man died in the shopping centre and another woman later died in hospital, police said. A nine-month-old infant has undergone surgery and eight people, including the child, are in hospitals around Sydney receiving treatment for “different injuries”. Reports have suggested the woman who died in hospital is the child’s mother.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told a press conference that her officers “believe that he is a 40-year-old man”.
She added: “If in fact it is the person that we believe it is, then we don’t have fears for that person holding an ideation - in other words, that it’s not a terrorism incident.
“He is known to law enforcement but we are waiting to identify him formally.” Emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction following reports that multiple people had been stabbed at 3.30pm (0530 GMT), police said.
Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of New South Wales Police, said the police officer “confronted the offender.” At a press conference, he said: “As she continued to walk quickly behind to catch up with him he turned to face her, raised a knife, she discharged a firearm and that person is now deceased.”
He added: “This all happened very, very quickly - the officer that was in the vicinity attended on her own, was guided to the location of the offender by people who were in the centre.
A shopper, who was not named, told ABC News of the moment he was shot: “He just started floating towards us and all I heard was ‘put it down’ and then she shot him.
“But we were in no doubt, if she didn’t shoot him, he would have kept going.
“He was on the rampage.”
