Six people have been killed in a stabbing attack at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center in Sydney’s east on Saturday afternoon, Australian police said.
The police said that 5 of the victims died immediately at the scene, while the sixth died in the hospital as a result of their injuries, reported Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News).
Several more people, including a child, were taken to hospital; some of them are in a critical condition. Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center.
A police officer shot the offender dead after a confrontation. New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said, “She discharged a firearm and that person is now deceased.”
Assistant Commissioner Cooke said authorities believe the man acted alone, and they have no information about the suspect’s identity or motive, confirming there is no longer a threat.
Speaking about the attack, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was “beyond words or understanding.”
“This was a horrific act of violence, indiscriminately targeting innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday doing their shopping,” he told a press conference.
Australia has one of the world’s toughest gun and knife laws, and mass casualty events are rare in Australia, according to CNN. The latest attack was in Darwin, northern Australia, in 2019, when at least 4 people were killed and one injured in a mass shooting.
The deadliest mass shooting in Australia’s modern history occurred in April 1996, known as the Port Arthur massacre, when 35 people were killed in the tourist town in the state of Tasmania.