A man stabbed six people to death in a busy shopping center in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, before being shot dead by police on Saturday.
Eight other people, including a nine-month-old baby, were injured.
The attack caused chaos in the shopping center. Hundreds of people fled the scene, many crying.
The suspect, a 40-year-old man, was shot dead by a police inspector after he threatened him with a knife, New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke said.
“We heard: run, run, run, someone was stabbed,” a witness told the ABC network in Australia. The attacker walked very calmly as if he were eating ice cream in a park. Then he went up an escalator. After a minute, we heard three explosions. »
Six of the victims — five women and one man — and the suspect died. Superintendent Karen Webb said all eight injured people were taken to hospitals. The baby was in surgery, but it was still too early to tell his condition.
“We are convinced that there is no longer a threat. There was only one suspect now dead. It’s not linked to terrorism,” said M.me Webb.
She added that police will not release the identity of the suspect. The police were trying to determine what had pushed him to commit the irreparable.
Mr Cooke announced that the investigation was only just beginning.
He said the inspector was alone when she confronted the suspect shortly after he arrived at the mall. “She saved several lives,” he said.
Commissioner Webb added, saying that the police officer had “demonstrated great courage and bravery”.
“If she hadn’t shot, he could have continued.” I don’t know how many new victims he would have killed,” another witness told 7News.