Penrith Kmart: NSW Police shut down claims of man with knife, stabbing at shopping centre

Police have shut down claims of a “man with a knife” and a “stabbing” at a Penrith shopping centre, just hours after a popular bishop was stabbed in a “terror attack”.

Police have shut down claims of a man with a knife roaming through a western Sydney shopping centre, just hours after a an alleged “terror attack” which saw a well-known Fairfield bishop stabbed during a sermon.

Penrith police responded to reports of a “man with a knife” and a “stabbing” at Kmart Penrith late on April 15, with several claims made on social media.

“Kmart at Penrith – another stabbing tonight,” one social media user claimed.

“A guy at Penrith Kmart with a knife tonight,” another said.

However, a NSW Police spokeswoman told the Penrith Press, “there was no knife or stabbing”.

“A couple of homeless men were reportedly involved in a dispute in which one of them had a set of pliers,” the police media representative said. “It has been dealt with by police.”

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 16: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan speak during a press conference on April 16, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. Hundreds clashed with police in western Sydney after an Orthodox Christian bishop was allegedly stabbed at the alter at Mar Mari Emmanuel at Assyrian church in Wakeley. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Hours earlier, Assyrian religious leader Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, was stabbed as he delivered a live-streamed mass with the stream followed in countries including the UK and US before a riot with more than 2000 people broke out in the streets as police and paramedics responded to the incident.

Blurred footage for the 15 year old boy who stabbed the Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a service.at The Good Shepard Church in Sydney last night. Picture: Twitter

The police response comes just days after six people were killed in a devastating mass murder incident at Westfield Bondi Junction, which claiming the lives first-time mum, Ash Good, the daughter of John Singleton, Dawn, Bellevue Hill mother-of-two Jade Young, Pakistani refugee Faraz Tahir, Chinese-national Yixuan Cheng, and Georgia-born artist Pikria Darchia.

Yixuan Cheng, Pikria Darchia, Faraz Tahir, Jade Young, Dawn Singleton and Ashlee Good were the six victims killed in the horrific Bondi Junction attack. Picture: Sky News Australia

A Current Affair crime editor Simon Bouda claimed murder Joel Cauchi, who was gunned down by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, was seen at two other Westfield shopping centres around Sydney — Penrith and Parramatta — leading investigators to question if he may have also been scoping these out for a possible attack.