Six people were killed and others were injured, including a nine-month-old baby, when a person carrying a knife attacked shoppers in a crowded mall in Sydney, today, Saturday, according to Australian police.
Many people were injured in the attack, and the identity of the perpetrator was not known, as he was killed by bullets from a policewoman who was at the site.
The attack occurred at the large Westfield Bundai Junction Mall at a time when it was crowded with a large number of shoppers on Saturday afternoon.
The death toll reached six people after a wounded person died in hospital, according to a New South Wales Police spokesman.
The first toll was five dead.
The motives for the attack were not clear, but New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cook did not rule out the “terrorism” hypothesis at this stage.
Cook said, “I do not know at this stage who (the attacker) is. It is still early. The investigations are in their beginnings and we are continuing efforts to determine the identity of the perpetrator.”
A spokesman for the New South Wales Ambulance Service confirmed that eight wounded people had been transferred to various hospitals across Sydney, including a nine-month-old child who was transferred to the city's Children's Hospital.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attacker appeared to have acted alone. He added: “For all of us this evening, words cannot describe the horrific scenes at Bondai Junction.”
Surveillance camera footage published by local media showed a man wearing a cotton T-shirt bearing the Australian Rugby League logo, running through the mall with a large knife in his hand, with wounded people on the ground.
A state of panic prevailed in the place, according to eyewitnesses, as shoppers ran for protection while the police tried to secure the site.
Many people took shelter in shops.
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