‘Heroes’ stop deadly knife rampage
A knife-wielding man killed one person and attempted to stab several others in a central Sydney rampage on Tuesday before being chased and pinned down by members of the public, witnesses said.
Police said a 21-year-old Sydney man with a history of mental illness is believed to have killed a woman of about the same age in a residential unit before going on the rampage across the city centre.
New South Wales police said he had no known links to terror organisations, but did have a flash drive with details of mass-casualty whitesupremacist attacks in the US and New Zealand.
Witness Megan Hales said she saw a man brandishing a large kitchen knife chasing several people through the busy central business district shortly after lunchtime.
A 41-year-old woman who was stabbed is now said to be in a stable condition.
“Five or six others were chasing him behind, trying to stop him. They caught him and restrained him,” Hales said.
Four of the pursuers were Colombian-born Alex Roberts, and Britons Lee Cuthbert and brothers Paul and Luke O’Shaughnessy -- all colleagues at a recruitment consultancy who raced from their fourthfloor office to the street.
“We’ve opened the window and seen the guy wielding a knife and jumping on the bonnet” of a nearby car, Paul O’Shaughnessy, a former professional footballer, said.
Convinced it was a terror attack, his brother Luke – a champion Muay Thai boxer – led the chase.
“We all just ran down the building and chased him down the street,” Roberts said.
“Everyone was kind of panicking – not your normal Tuesday afternoon,” he said.
Cuthbert said Luke, with the help of another man, managed to get the attacker down on to the floor and pin him down with chairs and a plastic crate before police arrived.
“We’re a very, very close team, we’re a startup recruitment company,” he said.
“We’re all brothers really, so when you see brothers running, your natural instinct is to go and follow.”
Police said despite indications the assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “shoot me” it was not yet clear whether there was a political motive.
“We are keeping a very open mind as we move forward,” police spokesperson Superintendent Gavin Wood said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the bravery of the onlookers.