12:03 p.m. ET, April 13, 2024
6 dead in Sydney shopping mall stabbing attack. Here's the latest
Emergency services are seen outside the scene of a stabbing in Sydney, on Saturday, April 13.
Steven Saphore/AAP Image/AP
Six people are dead and several others injured after a man went on a stabbing rampage in a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday afternoon local time, one of the country’s worst mass killings in recent years. The suspect was
shot dead.
Eyewitnesses described
“pandemonium” as they fled from the attack, with many
forced to hide in shops. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was “beyond words and understanding,” but amid the “shocking violence,” there were glimmers of heroism.
Here’s the latest if you are just joining us:
Six dead: New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said
four women and a man died at the shopping mall, while a fifth woman later died at the hospital. Webb added that
eight additional people are being treated for injuries at hospitals in Sydney.
Baby among those injured: A
nine-month-old baby is confirmed to be among the injured and has been in surgery, Webb said. Australian media outlets have reported that the baby’s mother had died, but Webb could not confirm the reports.
Suspect shot: A police inspector shot the attacker dead on the scene. Police believe the suspect was a 40-year-old man who acted alone, but could not provide further identification details. Early indications suggest the attack was
not terror-related.
"Hero" police officer: The police officer who shot the suspect is being hailed as a “hero,” with
Albanese saying, “There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action.” The officer was nearby when the violence unfolded and shot the attacker when he raised his knife at her, police said.
People react outside Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center on Saturday.
Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Witnesses describe scene: Eyewitnesses described panic and “pandemonium” as fleeing shoppers fell over each other and hid in shops. One woman, Crystal Wang,
told CNN she hid in a clothing store for over an hour with other shoppers. Another man told Australia’s state broadcaster ABC that the attacker was stabbing people “indiscriminately.”
Rare attack: The attack has shocked Australia, a country where
mass casualty events are rare. The deadliest in its history was an April 1996 mass shooting in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, that killed 35 people and became known as the Port Arthur massacre. More recently, at least four people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting in the northern city of Darwin in 2019.