Six killed in Sydney mall stabbing spree, attacker shot dead by police

Six people and a suspect were killed in a Sydney shopping centre stabbing attack on Saturday that left multiple people, including a small child, injured, police said.

A single person began stabbing people in the mall, attacking nine people, before a female police inspector shot him, Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters.

One victim was declared dead at the hospital.

The incident occurred at the sprawling Westfield Bondi Junction mall complex, which was packed with Saturday afternoon shoppers.

Cooke said the suspect acted alone, and there was “no continuing threat.” He said officials didn’t know who the offender was yet, and there was no indication of motivation.

“This is quite raw,” he said.

He said there was “nothing that we are aware of at the scene that would indicate any motive or any ideology.” When asked whether officials were ruling out terrorism, he said: “We’re not ruling anything out.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed shock over the incident and led the country in mourning the dead.

"For all of us tonight, the devastating scenes of Bondi Junction are beyond words or understanding," he said, adding the now-deceased attacker is believed to have acted alone.

Videos posted on social media showed many ambulances and police cars, as well as crowds of people, around the shopping centre.

Paramedics were treating patients at the scene.

Witness Roi Huberman, a sound engineer at ABC TV in Australia, told the network that he sheltered in a store during the incident.

“And suddenly we heard a shot or maybe two shots and we didn’t know what to do,” he said.

“Then the very capable person in the store took us to the back where it can be locked. She then locked the store and then she then let us through the back and now we are out.”