Six people died on Saturday in a stabbing incident at Westfield Bondi Junction, an eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia, according to reports from local authorities and media outlets.
Earlier, New South Wales (NSW) Police verified a “critical incident” occurring after gunmen shot an unidentified man in the vicinity.
Law enforcement officers rushed to the location upon receiving information that an assailant stabbed several individuals.
“It appears the lone assailant acted independently, without any accomplices,” the Assistant Commissioner of NSW Police, said in a statement.
The police officer also hinted he interacted with nine individuals, as he approached the centre.
Evidently, the assailant inflicted harm upon them during the interaction, using a weapon he had in his possession.
The officer said an Inspector in the vicinity attempted to intervene. She had to fatally shoot the man when he threatened her with a knife.
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New South Wales Ambulance staff said they took eight individuals to the hospital, one of whom is a nine-month-old infant.
Subsequently, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the sixth victims succumbed to their injuries while receiving medical care.
The NSW police official refrained from making assumptions about the motive behind the stabbing incident.
The authorities have also identified the attacker as a 40-year-old, who is well-known to law enforcement, although not suspected of holding any terrorist ideologies.
The latest attack carries an eerie resemblance to the 2019 attack when a man armed with a knife stabbed a woman in Sydney and tried to attack “multiple people” before he was apprehended. (eTN)
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