“Several people” were stabbed in a shopping center in Sydney, in the Bondi district, Australian police said on Saturday (April 13). The New South Wales state ambulance service told Agence France-Presse that a man was shot dead by police, and that it was likely the assailant, as several media also claim.
The attack occurred in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center, located in the iconic area of the city of Bondi, not far from the beach of the same name. Australian broadcaster ABC reported that police evacuated customers from the center, after being called to the scene shortly before 4 p.m. (local time, 8 a.m. Paris). The media says New South Wales Ambulance Services told it seven people were taken to hospital with stab wounds, including a nine-month-old baby and his mother.
Australian police confirmed an operation was underway and urged people to avoid the area. She did not immediately specify the motive for the attack or the number of victims, but is due to hold a press briefing shortly.
Videos shared on social media showed numerous ambulances and police cars, as well as crowds of people, around the mall, while paramedics treated patients at the scene. Images from surveillance cameras inside the center, broadcast by Australian media, also show a man with a large knife running in the shopping center, people fleeing and others lying on the ground injured.
Witnesses who escaped from the center said there was panic at the time of the attack. Several people took refuge in a supermarket, where they stayed for about an hour.
More information to come on Lemonde.fr
