Australia
Sydney: Six dead in shopping center attack
A crowd gathers outside the Westfield Shopping Centre. According to media reports, several people were stabbed and one person was shot dead by police at the Sydney shopping center. photo
© Rick Rycroft/AP
A man stabs people in a busy shopping center in the metropolis of Sydney. First he kills five and injures others. A sixth victim dies in hospital.
After the knife attack in a shopping center in the Australian metropolis Sydney’s death toll has reportedly risen from five to six. A sixth person died of his injuries in hospital, the Australian broadcaster ABC quoted a police spokesman as saying on Saturday evening (local time), a few hours after the incident.
It was initially unclear who it was. A nine-month-old baby was among the injured taken to hospitals.
The alleged perpetrator attacked people in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center near the well-known Bondi Beach in Sydney’s east on Saturday afternoon and was then caught by a police officer. She shot him when he refused to drop his knife. The man died, New South Wales Police Deputy Chief Anthony Cooke said at a news conference. There is only one suspected perpetrator and there is no further danger, he said.
Even hours after the incident, the police were still unable to determine his identity, the AAP news agency reported. There is also no evidence of a motive or ideology at the crime scene.