Stabbing at Westfield Bondi: Killer behind massacre known to police

The random terror of the massacre at a suburban Westfield has shaken Australia and reverberated around the world as further details emerge about the killer.

A female police officer has been hailed for her bravery, single-handedly stopping the deadly rampage inside Westfield Bondi Junction.

A horrifying attack on shoppers inside a suburban Sydney mall that left seven people dead appears to be the random act of a man known to police.

The attacker, 40 — dressed in a Kangaroos ARL jersey and filmed casually jogging around Westfield Bondi Junction armed with a large knife — killed five women and a man in the massacre before he was shot dead by a lone female police officer.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the incident was not believed to be terror-related, but whether the victims were deliberately targeted remained to be seen.

“It’s very early days but there is no suggestion that there was anyone targeted, but that could change and we will only know that in time,” Commissioner Webb said late on Saturday.

“The community, like we do, should feel very sad about what happened here but they should have no concerns, ongoing concerns.

“We believe that this person acted alone and there is no ongoing threat to the community.”

“In other words it is not a terrorism incident.”

Eight people are still in hospital after being knifed in the attack, including a nine-month-old baby girl who was reportedly stabbed while being pushed in a pram. Her mother, 38-year-old Sydney osteopath Ashlee Good, threw the bleeding infant into the arms of strangers as the attacker turned his knife on her. Dr Good later died in hospital.

Dr Ash Good was stabbed in the Bondi attack along with her baby.

NSW Premier Chris Minns, rushing back from an overseas trip, described the crime as “wicked”, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it “horrific and indiscriminate”.

“Today at Bondi Junction was the scene of shocking violence, but it was also witness to the humanity and the heroism of our fellow Australians,” Mr Albanese said.

Police and political leaders have heralded the courage of the female police inspector who rushed inside the shopping mall to single-handedly stop the rampaging murderer on a tranquil Saturday afternoon.

The random terror of the event has shaken Australia and reverberated around the world, with police declaring the entire mall a crime scene.

Eyewitnesses said his first victims were a mother and her nine-month-old infant, stabbed by the man in an unprovoked attack, beginning about 3.20pm, that sent terror through Sydney and echoed around the world, with international news outlets reporting on what at first appeared to be a terror attack.

The mother, Dr Good, aged 38, died in St Vincent’s Hospital.

As thousands of shoppers including elderly people ran for the exits or cowered inside stores, courageous bystanders attempted to stop the carnage, with one man confronting the killer on an escalator.

The bystander, clutching a large bollard, stood at the top of the escalator, confronting the attacker, who stood casually leaning against the escalator’s handrail.

The offender was wearing shorts, dark sneakers and the jersey of Australia’s rugby league international side, the Kangaroos, clutching the knife in his right hand.

Another bystander, a middle-aged man wearing a blue hoodie, shepherded the man away from fleeing shoppers, holding out his hands and calmly approaching the offender.

A man described to reporters witnessing the stabbing of Dr Good and her daughter.

He said Dr Good thrust the baby into his arms and he tried to “compress” the baby’s wounds to stop the bleeding as others sought to slow her mother’s bleeding and called triple-0.

“There was a lot of blood. I hope the baby is OK,” the man told reporters.

The normally bustling mall, where Sydney flocks on tranquil Saturday afternoons to shop, catch movies and dine was swept by silence, punctuated only by screams as the man jogged – at times casually – past shops and concession stands.

Stores slammed down their shutters as word of the attack spread.

In some stores, including the Apple Store, eyewitnesses described being shepherded to the back of the store as staff invoked their lockdown drill.

Terrified families gathered outside the mall as patrons were evacuated.

Police, ambulances and rescue crews, including heavily armed tactical officers, swarmed to the mall with canine teams.

The dogs swept the crowds and police ordered fleeing bystanders to raise their hands in the air as they sought to establish whether there was more than one offender.

NSW Police assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke said the police inspector was in the vicinity of the mall and rushed inside after being alerted to the attack.

“This all happened very, very quickly,” Mr Cooke said.

“The officer was in the near vicinity, attended on her own, was guided to the location of the offender by people who were in the centre.

“She saved a range of people’s lives today.”

He said CCTV showed the man coming into the centre at 3.10pm.

“He left the centre very shortly after and returned about 20 past three.

“As he moved through the centre he engaged with about nine people.

“It is clear that during that engagement he caused harm to those people, we believe by stabbing them with a weapon he was carrying.

“A single unit officer, an Inspector of Police was nearby, attended, went into the centre directed by a range of people.

“She confronted the offender who had moved by this stage level five.

“As she continued to walk quickly behind him to catch up with him he turned, faced her, raised a knife.

“She discharged a firearm and that person is now deceased.

An eyewitness called Callum told Sky News Australia: “The worst thing about it was how eerie it was.”

Police enter the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall after the attack.

“I’m scared of heights and I felt like I was 100 metres in the air. I couldn’t move.

“But the silence was what freaked me out. There was just no noise.”

At least one woman died inside the Chanel store and other stabbings appear to have occurred in Cotton On and JB Hifi.

Premier Chris Minns is rushing home from an overseas trip he had only just begun.

In a statement the Premier said: “I’m horrified to hear about the events of Bondi Junction this afternoon.

“I’m making immediate arrangements to return to Sydney.

“I want to thank New South Wales Police Emergency Services and first responders and the community for their bravery in the face of this shocking incident.

Acting premier Penny Sharpe, filling in for Chris Minns, who has just left on an overseas trip, released a statement saying: “I’m shocked at reports of multiple casualties.

“My thoughts and prayers, as do those of the NSW Government, are with the victims, their families and first responders at this time, as well as those who may have witnessed these horrific events.

“I’m receiving regular updates from New South Wales police and emergency services as well as from the Premier’s department,” Ms Sharpe said.

Local MP Kellie Sloane said “We saw a lot of heroes in our community,” adding witnesses at the mall saw traumatising scenes that are also playing out on social media.

“There are a lot of very disturbing images being shared on social media,” Ms Sloane said.

“So I guess you know the message I have to parents of people that were there today, the kids that were there, is to check in with the kids, give them a hug. Don’t expect them to talk.”