Baby injured in Sydney mall stabbing out of ICU as police detain teen in church ‘terrorist’ attack
Members of the public clashed with police after Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church
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A baby girl injured in a stabbing attack at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre has been moved out of the intensive care.
The nine-month-old child was in a serious but stable condition, a health official said. Her mother, Ashlee Good, was among the six people killed in the carnage on Saturday.
Meanwhile, police in Sydney declared the attack on a bishop at a church as an act of terrorism, as authorities call for calm in the wake of disturbance following the incident.
At least four people were injured in the attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, during a service at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the suburb of Wakeley in the west of the city.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested during the event, which triggered a riot outside the church. Two officers were injured with one suffering a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and fence palings. Ten police cars were destroyed.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese urged the public not to take the law into their own hands. “It is not acceptable to impede police and injure police doing their duty or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night,” he added.
What’s really to blame for the Sydney stabbings
What’s really to blame for the Sydney stabbings
I’m a psychologist, writes Dr Jessica Taylor – and I can tell you that attacks like these are rarely ‘random’, ‘unpredictable’, ‘unrelated’ and ‘unpreventable’. The real ‘monster’ here is misogyny
Parents of ‘monster’ Sydney knife attacker say son was angry he ‘couldn’t get a girlfriend’
Parents of Sydney knife attacker ‘extremely sorry’ after son kills six
Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured 12 others, including a nine-month old baby
The Sydney attacker’s secret life as a male escort as police probe if he targeted women
Joel Cauchi: The Sydney attacker’s secret life as a male escort
Police will investigate whether Joel Cauchi targeted women during the rampage as details about his itinerant life emerge
Sydney stabbings: What we know about the six victims of the mall attack
Sydney stabbings: What we know about the six victims of the mall attack
Five women and one man were killed by knife attacker Joel Cauchi at Bondi Junction on Saturday
Better mental health support could help avoid tragedies like Sydney
Letters: Better mental health support could help avoid tragedies like Sydney
Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk
‘Hero’ police officer who saved countless lives in Sydney mall attack named and pictured
‘Hero’ police officer who saved countless lives in Sydney mall attack pictured
Inspector Amy Scott was the first to reach the scene and shot the attacker after he lunged towards her with a knife
Joel Cauchi: Who was the Sydney mall stabbing attacker?
Joel Cauchi: Sydney stabbing attacker who killed six at Bondi Junction mall
He battled ‘mental health issues since he was a teenager’ and led ‘itinerant’ lifestyle
Australian authorities mull tougher knife laws
New South Wales authorities are considering tougher knife laws following two stabbing attacks in Sydney this past week.
“It’s a combustible situation and I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” premier Chris Minns told Sydney radio 2GB yesterday.
“We increased knife laws about six months ago after the terrible death of Steven Tougher, the NSW paramedic, but I’m not prepared to rule anything out right now
“When people are being killed, and you’ve got a situation where a knife is being used, then it would be irresponsible not to look at it,” he added.
The NSW government in June 2023 amended the Crimes Act to include the offences of carrying a knife in a public place or school and wielding a knife in a public place or school.
Woman describes how she hid from Sydney shopping centre attacker
Woman describes how she hid from Sydney mall attacker: ‘I thought I was going to die’
An eyewitness has described how she hid from a knifeman and thought she was “going to die” during a terrifying attack at a Sydney shopping centre. The woman told Sky News how she saw a man with a machete and rushed to hide in the Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday (13 April). Crying, the woman said: “It was just the worst thing ever. Who does that to people?” Police have confirmed six people have been killed and their attacker shot dead following the horrific attack. A New South Wales Police officer confronted the attacker at Westfield Bondi Junction and shot him dead as he faced her and raised a knife.
Who is bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel?
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was stabbed during a church service live streamed from Sydney, is a social media star with followers around the world, but the bearded clergyman is also a divisive preacher.
The 53-year-old bishop, who has a popular youth following on TikTok and was awarded by YouTube in 2023 for hitting 100,000 subscribers, has been a target for criticism, hate and online trolling.
On Monday night a teenager stabbed him and other worshippers with a knife during a sermon at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in western Sydney.
Footage posted online showed the attacker criticising the bishop’s comments about Islam while pinned to the ground by the congregation. Police said on Tuesday it was a terrorist attack motivated by suspected religious extremism.
In some sermons posted online and shared widely, Mr Emmanuel questions parts of Islamic theology, although in others he stresses his love for the Muslim community and how he regularly prays for them. In a recent post he expressed support for Palestinians in Gaza.
“He’s not saying your religion is rubbish, he’s just proving them wrong and very well articulated to the point where it gets under their skin ... the only way you can bring him down is through physical violence,” a 20-year-old resident told Reuters.
In other sermons Mr Emmanuel took aim at the secular world, casting doubt on Joe Biden’s election, attacking his support for gay rights and urging Donald Trump to stay true to God and resist the influence of Freemasons.
Mr Emmanuel’s popularity peaked during the Covid-19 pandemic because his sermons were online, according to the locals.
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