SYDNEY: Four people are being treated for “non-life threatening injuries” after a stabbing at a live-streamed church service in Sydney on Monday, the latest knife attack to rock the city.
Australian police said they had arrested one man, after a member of the congregation at an Assyrian church rushed at the dais and slashed at the bishop, causing pandemonium.
Amid the panic and screams, several churchgoers rushed to safety while others tried to subdue the attacker.
The ambulance service told AFP that four men aged between 20 and 70 were being treated for injuries, including lacerations.
“The injured individuals suffered non-life threatening injuries and were treated by New South Wales Ambulance paramedics before being conveyed to hospital,” police added.
“A male was arrested and remains in police custody.”
The incident came two days after a man with a knife killed six at a shopping mall in the east of Sydney.
AFP verified video of Monday’s attack as being taken at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s western suburb of Wakeley.
The neighborhood is a hub for Sydney’s small Christian Assyrian community, many of whom fled persecution and war in Iraq and Syria.
There were tense scenes outside the church after the attack, with hundreds of members of the local community trying to make their way past a phalanx of riot police to reach the suspect.
An AFP journalist at the scene saw projectiles being hurled, before police with riot shields and armor pushed the protesters away from the church.
“He has been removed from the church and taken to an undisclosed location,” police said.
They urged the public to avoid the area amid “a large police response.”
The Christ the Good Shepherd Church holds a bible session every Monday evening.
Police said they began to receive emergency calls from the scene “about 7.10 pm.”
Australians are still reeling from Saturday’s stabbing, which was carried out by a 40-year-old man with a history of mental illness.
In that attack, videos shared on social media showed unshaven itinerant Joel Cauchi pursuing mostly female victims as he rampaged through the vast, crowded Westfield shopping complex in Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.
A black ribbon was projected onto the Sydney Opera House on Monday as a mark of respect for the victims.
Four wounded in Sydney Assyrian church stabbing, man arrested
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Four wounded in Sydney Assyrian church stabbing, man arrested
- A member of the congregation at an Assyrian church rushed at the dais and slashed at the bishop, causing pandemonium.
- Incident came two days after a man with a knife killed six at a shopping mall in the east of Sydney
Australia rejects report it is repatriating families of Daesh militants from Syrian camp
- The return of relatives of suspected Daesh militants is a political issue in Australia, which has seen a surge in popularity of the right-wing
Australia’s center-left government on Sunday rejected a local media report that said it was working to repatriate Australians in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected Daesh militants. The 34 women and children were released on Monday from the camp in northern Syria, but returned to the detention center due to technical reasons. The group is expected to travel to Damascus before eventually returning to Australia, despite objections from ruling and opposition lawmakers.
On Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected claims made in a report in the Sunday Telegraph, asserting that official preparations were under way for the cohort’s return.
“In that report, it makes a claim that we are conducting a repatriation. We are not,” Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.
“It claims we have been meeting with the states for the purposes of a repatriation. We have not,” Burke added. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who leads Australia’s Labour Party, said this week his government would not help the group return to Australia.
The return of relatives of suspected Daesh militants is a political issue in Australia, which has seen a surge in popularity of the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson.
Daesh, the Sunni Muslim militant group, is listed as a terrorist organization in Australia, with membership of the group punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Australia also has the power to strip dual nationals of citizenship if they are a Daesh member.
