Sydney knife attack: Man who killed six at shopping centre was known to police

Four women and a man died at the scene. A fifth woman died in hospital later. 

Reports have suggested the woman who died in hospital is the child’s mother.

The baby is undergoing emergency surgery. Their nationalities have not been released.

A man at the shopping centre said he helped the baby who had been stabbed.

The man told 9News Sydney: “The baby got stabbed. The mum got stabbed and came over with a baby and threw it at me – I was holding the baby, it looked pretty bad.

He added: “There was a lot of blood on the floor. I hope the baby is all right.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs here says it stands ready to provide consular assistance if required, but the early indications suggest that none of the victims is Irish.

While the 40-year-old suspect has yet to be formally identified, there are no indications at this stage that this was a terrorist incident New South Wales Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said in a briefing in the last hour.

“The community, like we do, should feel sad about what happened here, but they should have no ongoing concerns. We believe the person responsible acted alone, and there is no ongoing risk to the community,” she said.

The suspect was shot dead by a senior police officer attached to the city’s Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command after six people were fatally stabbed in what appears to have been a random attack on people in the busy shopping centre.

The senior police officer, who was among one of the first police officers to arrive at the scene, tracked the suspect down, confronted him, and when he allegedly raised a knife and lunged at her, he was shot.

The officer conducted CPR until the arrival of NSW Ambulance paramedics, who worked on the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Video footage shared online appears to show a shopper confronting the attacker on an escalator in the shopping centre by holding a bollard towards him.

It has been confirmed the man fatally stabbed six people in the centre before he was shot, police said.

In a briefing with the media this morning, Ms Webb said they believe the attacker is a 40-year-old and formal identification is awaited.

“But let me assure you that there is no ongoing risk and we are dealing with one person who is now deceased,” she said.

If it is the person we believe it is then we don’t have fears for that person holding an ideation – in other words, it is not a terrorist incident.” 

 She confirmed the suspect was known to law enforcement and while the investigation is at an early stage, and will take some time, there are elements already available which rule out terrorism as a motive.

The suspect’s car and home will be searched, and his associates will form a key part of the investigation over the coming days, she said.

Ms Webb praised the courage and bravery of shoppers, business owners and the police officers who responded to the incident.

And she said the senior police officer who took down the attacker is doing well, given the circumstances.

“She showed enormous courage and bravery, and she will process that. She will need to be interviewed formally, but she’s got everything she needs for the time being,” she said.

A critical incident team comprised of State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad and the Central Metropolitan Region will now investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The investigation will also be subject to an independent review.

‘Is there a possibility here that I’m going to die?’: Irish man’s eye witness account 

Niall Naughton from Co Clare was inside the shopping centre when the attack happened.

He had just had his hair cut on the fourth floor and went downstairs to Zara, when the horror began to unfold.

“I was inside in the dressing room when I could hear literally what sounded like a herd of cattle coming running,” he said.

“Everyone started screaming and shouting and then just kept roaring ‘Stabbing or shooting. Stabbing or shooting. Quick we need to leave’.

“I could hear, there was a lady in the back and she was shouting ‘Terrorist. Terrorist. Terrorist’.

“Because everyone was rushing so fast I actually had the outfit on me from Zara and I grabbed all of my belongings that were on the floor and we just ran as fast as we could.”

Mr Naughton, who is living and working in Bondi, said shop staff escorted them out the back and downstairs into a basement which they then barricaded.

“We were just all there and they were telling us to be quiet.

At that point, what was going through my mind was my family. Like, is there a possibility here that I’m going to die?”

He said there children as young as four and five down in the basement with them.

“As we arrived outside, there were multiple people screaming, crying, there were children looking for their parents,” Mr Naughton said.

“There were helicopters, police, ambulances everywhere. It was horrific, horrific scenes.

“There were shoes, bags, there was everything that was just dropped as everyone ran for their lives.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris has said that he is horrified by the attack that took place and said he will reach out to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“But for now, the thoughts and prayers of everyone in Ireland are with our Australian friends,” he wrote on X.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has expressed his shock at the attack, adding it underlines the threat posed across the globe by such unprovoked acts.

“It is a reminder of the far more threatening and insecure world that we live in when attacks of this kind can happen without any warning,” said Mr Martin.

– Additional reporting by PA