A father seen escorting his two children away from the scene of a mass stabbing has been praised for his quick thinking which ensured his children did not witness the carnage.
Police were called to the Westfield shopping center in Sydney’s Bondi Junction after reports that a man with a knife was stabbing shoppers at 3.30pm on Saturday.
Witnesses say the bearded, dark-haired man chased and slashed at shoppers while going on a wild rampage, killing six and wounding seven before police shot him dead.
Camera crews at the scene showed the father and his two young children wearing eye masks.
The small detail was noticed by a woman in X who called the move “amazing.”
A father has been hailed a hero for putting masks on his children so they wouldn’t see NSW police responding to a mass stabbing.
Police were called to Westfield in Sydney’s Bondi Junction at 3.30pm on Saturday after reports of a man stabbing shoppers.
Six shoppers were killed in the attack and seven others, including a baby, were injured.
“That man covered their eyes so they wouldn’t see the horrors of what just happened,” he wrote.
The man hugged both children as he calmly walked away from the mall.
Many shoppers were left traumatized after seeing the victims lying in pools of blood.
Among the dead was Ash Good, a 38-year-old Sydney mother, who threw her injured baby at a passerby in an attempt to save his life.
The baby is undergoing surgery and it is believed that the two were the first to be attacked by the alleged attacker.
New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Anthony Cooke said the alleged attacker was confronted by a lone female officer on the fifth level of the complex.
‘She confronted the offender who had gone from this stage to level five. “As she kept walking quickly behind him to catch up to him,” Commissioner Cooke said.
He turned, looked at her, and raised a knife. “She fired a firearm and that person has already died.”
The alleged attacker was shot dead by a lone policewoman while the injured were rushed to hospitals.
Shoppers inside the complex at the time of the incident said they feared for their lives while the man with the knife was missing.
Police, including the Tactical Operations Unit, and ambulances attended the scene, and people were seen screaming and crying outside the shopping centre.
The alleged attacker was wearing a green and gold ARL Australia shirt while casually holding a knife at his side when witnesses claim he began chasing them.
Photographs and videos of the incident have been uploaded to X, including a photograph showing the alleged attacker casually walking up an escalator while holding a large knife.
One photograph showed one of the attack victims lying in a pool of blood behind a glass door.
A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said 40 resources were sent to assist at the scene.
“NSW Ambulance assisted in transporting eight patients to various hospital facilities in Sydney and assessed a total of six patients who had been considered injured at the scene,” they said.
A young witness who was locked inside a store said she heard gunshots and “horrifying” screams as the attack took place.
“We are absolutely terrified,” he said.
Photos and videos of the incident have been shared online showing the bearded man wearing an ARL t-shirt running through the shopping complex and allegedly cutting down innocent bystanders.
A young witness who was locked inside a store said she was ‘absolutely terrified’