Boy, 15, arrested as bishop stabbed at Sydney church
A bishop and three worshippers have been stabbed in an attack that was captured on video during a livestreamed church service in Sydney, only two days after a mass stabbing in a shopping centre in the city.
Police said a 15-year-old boy had been arrested following reports of an attack just after 7pm local time yesterday at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the suburb of Wakeley.
Video footage shared on social
Police officers at the Sydney church where four people were stabbed media showed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel speaking to the congregation before a man dressed in black walks up to where he was standing at the altar and stabbed him repeatedly in the head and upper body. Screaming was heard before worshippers rushed to try to help the bishop.
The church streams its sermons live on social media.
A spokesman for New South Wales Ambulance told Australian media that a man in his fifties was taken to hospital with multiple stab wounds, while three other people were also injured and were being treated at the scene.
Police said a man in his thirties suffered lacerations, a man in his twenties received a cut to his hand, while a man in his sixties was wounded on his arm, but that those injuries were not life-threatening.
New South Wales Police said: “A police operation is under way in Wakeley, following reports of a stabbing… Officers arrested a male and he is assisting police with inquiries.”
After the attack, large crowds gathered outside the church, with reports of angry clashes and people throwing rocks at police.
Witnesses said protesters were demanding that police bring out the suspect. Two police officers were taken to hospital with injuries.
The mayor of the Fairfield area, Frank Carbone, said: “I believe that the bishop has been taken to hospital and should be OK.”
He told Sky News Australia: “I do call for calm… I can understand frustration and the anger from the communities but I ask them as the mayor just to please be calm.”
The bishop was a popular figure, gaining huge prominence during the pandemic when he criticised lockdown measures.
The attack comes after six people were killed and 12 injured in a mass stabbing at a Westfield shopping centre in Sydney on Saturday afternoon. There is no suggestion the attacks were linked.