Five people have been killed and several are in a critical condition, including a baby, after stabbings at a shopping centre near Bondi Beach in Sydney.
Police said the attacker who acted alone has been shot dead by an officer who confronted him on her own.
Authorities said they do not know who the suspect is, nor the motive of the attack, but confirmed there is no longer a threat.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.
An ambulance spokesperson said people were still inside the building.
The attack took place at Westfield Bondi Junction. Pic: AP
Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of New South Wales Police Force, said that a man walked into the centre, left then returned at 3.20pm (local time) as he proceeded through the centre where he “engaged with about nine people”.
Mr Cooke added: “A single unit officer, inspector of police, was nearby, attended, (and) went into the centre directed by a range of people.
“She confronted the offender who had moved, by this stage, to level five.
“As she continued to walk quickly behind to catch up with him he turned to face her, raised a knife, she discharged a firearm and that person is now deceased.”
Mr Cooke said the wounded were taken to hospital, and one of them is a “small child”.
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Police urged people to avoid the area.
A shopper said she thought she was “going to die”.
She told ABC News: “I was hiding in the backroom. I was hearing gunshots. It’s just the worst thing ever, who does that to people?
“I saw a woman lying on the floor in Chanel.
“I didn’t see him properly, I was running. It’s just insanity – I wasn’t expecting it.
“I thought I was going to die. Every moment was playing through my head, I was so scared.”
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‘I thought I was going to die’
Waverley Council said on X: “A critical incident has commenced following the shooting of a male at Bondi Junction. Just before 4pm today, emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction following reports of multiple people stabbed. People are urged to avoid the area.”
Witness Roi Huberman, an ABC sound engineer, told the network that he sheltered in a store during the incident.
“And suddenly we heard a shot or maybe two shots and we didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Then the very capable person in the store took us to the back where it can be locked. She then locked the store and then she then let us through the back and now we are out.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Tragically, multiple casualties have been reported and the first thoughts of all Australians are with those affected and their loved ones.”
Mr Cooke said he had not seen anything like this incident in Sydney before and that “this is a very difficult circumstance”.
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