Sydney mall attack: Everything we know so far
In a shock attack that has rattled Australia, six people were stabbed to death and several others were injured in a knife attack at a popular Sydney shopping mall.
Emergency services rushed to the scene at 3:30pm local time on Saturday as terrifying reports were made of a lone knifeman indiscriminately targeting members of the public.
Videos have since emerged of the attacker, identified as Joel Cauchi, wearing a rugby league shirt and carrying a large blade, with shoppers fleeing in panic.
Among those killed is first-time mother Ashlee Good, whose nine-month-old baby was also stabbed during the incident and has now undergone surgery in hospital. Other victims include a security guard, an architect and the daughter of an Australian businessman, while several others remain in hospital.
Cauchi, who was previously known to law enforcement, was also shot dead by a lone police officer, who confronted the attacker and shot him as he lunged towards her with a knife.
As more information on the terrifying attack continues to come to light, here’s everything we know so far:
Where and when did the attack happen?
Horrified shoppers looked on as the lone knifeman went on a stabbing spree on Saturday at around 3.30pm local time in the Westfield Bondi Junction centre.
New South Wales Police revealed that Cauchi walked into Westfield at Bondi Junction then left the centre very shortly after and returned.
An officer said that he “engaged” with about nine people as he moved through the centre, causing hundreds to flee in panic.
Footage and photos circulated on social media showing the inside of the shopping centre during the attack, including one dramatic clip showing a man on an escalator, brandishing a bollard towards Cauchi, who is visibly holding a large knife.
Other videos show people running through the shopping centre as an alarm rings and later footage shows police cars lining the road outside.
A woman who works in a nearby hair salon who took people fleeing the scene in said some had witnessed attacks in a Tommy Hilfiger store.
Speaking to ABC News Australia from the salon, she said: “We’ve had the older women coming into the salon who were in Westfield, traumatised, we had to sit them down because they were running and they weren’t fit enough to run. Other people (had) seen things that had happened in Tommy Hilfiger, where they were seeing stabs, it was absolutely horrific.”
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