Wakeley church stabbing: The miracle that saved BishopMar Marie Emmanuel’s life and kept his alleged attacker from killing him: ‘Act of God’
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s life was saved when his alleged attacker’s flick-knife failed to open properly during the frenzied onslaught – and the suspect cut his own finger off in the botched attack.
Close friend Danny Abdallah spoke to the bishop as he recovered in hospital overnight and revealed fresh new details of the incident on Tuesday morning.
Mr Abdallah – who lost three of his children and his niece to a drunk and drugged driver – called the bishop’s miracle escape an ‘act of God’.
Bishop Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed multiple times and rushed to hospital in a stable condition after the incident which was livestreamed online.
A 16-year-old boy dressed in black was seen calmly walking up to the bishop at his altar at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, west Sydney, about 7.10pm on Monday.
He appeared to unleash a series of blows while holding an implement in his hands, repeatedly striking the bishop.
In the video clip, the alleged attacker pauses briefly to look at his hand before resuming the attack – but was unable to properly open the flick knife.
It’s since been confirmed the attacker cut his own finger off with the knife during the attack.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel’s life was saved when his alleged attacker’s flick-knife failed to open properly during the frenzied onslaught (pictured)
Danny Abdallah (pictured with his wife), who lost three children and a niece in 2020, labelled the alleged knifeman’s struggle to open the knife ‘an act of God’
‘He (the alleged knifeman) went for the face and when he was going for the face, it (the knife) didn’t open,’ Mr Abdallah told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
He told Fordham the bishop appeared to be recovering well from the attack on Tuesday morning, which has since been labelled by police as an alleged terrorist incident.
‘Look as far as I know he’s okay,’ Mr Abdallah said of Bishop Emmanuel. ‘He didn’t get hurt that much yesterday. He was in a stable condition.
‘He’s a good man, he’s a spiritual man. He loves his church, he loves his people.’
Father Isaac Royel was also among four people injured in the incident, which has now been declared a terrorist attack.
Mr Abdallah lost three of his children – Sienna, eight, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13 – and his 11-year-old niece, Veronique Sakr, in a tragic west Sydney crash in 2020.
The family are very religious and Mr Abdallah is friends with Bishop Emmanuel.
The alleged knifeman (pictured being held down) has been labelled by police as an alleged terrorist
A mob gathered outside Christ The Good Shepherd Church (pictured) in Wakeley in the wake of the incident, resulting in several more injuries
Mr Abdallah also took the opportunity to condemn the actions of a mob who attacked police following the arrest of the alleged knifeman.
Hundreds of Bishop Emmanuel’s gathered outside the church in protest of the alleged stabbing. It’s understood they believed the alleged attacker was still inside.
The protest quickly turned into a violent riot which resulted in 30 people being injured, including police officers.
Footage showed the mob hurled bottles and bricks at a police barrier and yelled ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘bring him out’.
Premier Chris Minns said in a press conference on Tuesday morning: ‘There is no such thing in Australia as taking the law into your own hands.
‘You will be met by the full force of the law if there is any tit for tat violence in Sydney over the coming days.’
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said 20 police cars were damaged in the riots.
‘The police officers, of which there were many, acted courageously to protect that community, witnesses, victims and the ambulance officers,’ she said.
‘They went there to do their job last night and they were turned on.’
It’s understood 30 people were injured in riots (pictured) following the alleged stabbing on Monday night
Footage showed the mob hurled bottles and bricks at a police barrier and yelled ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘bring him out’ (pictured, remains from the riot on Tuesday)
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dom Morgan claimed several paramedics were trapped inside the church due to the riot.
‘Paramedics became under threat and … had to retreat into the church,’ he said.
‘The officers that serve this community and police every single day were holed up in that church for three-and-a-half hours.
Six of our paramedics could not leave that facility for fear of their own safety.’
Up to 100 police officers, including riot squad cops, were called to the scene along with POL AIR.
Mr Abdallah said of the riot: ‘I condemn it, it’s not right.
‘They should have left it with the police to look after it, they shouldn’t have done what they did.
‘These are kids that look at him as a spiritual father and they felt like that their father got stabbed and they were probably angry, but they still have no right to do what they did.’
Footage taken immediately after the attack showed the teenage knifeman was pinned down by at least three people, including a police officer.
The teenager appeared to smile and mock his captors as they held him in place.
One man, with blood visible on his jeans, sat with his legs straddling his head.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb (pictured) said 20 police cars were damaged in the riots
‘People are praying and you come and do this?,’ he said.
The police officer interjected: ‘Stop, just let go, please. You’re going to make it worse.’
Police have declared the alleged attack was an act of terrorism.
‘Strike Force Petrina has been established to investigate that side of the events last night and a referral has been made and agreed to by the joint counterterrorism investigation team that we will work jointly with NSW police lead, with AFP and other Commonwealth agencies in this investigation,’ Commissioner Webb said.
