Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended

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

Namita Singh,Alex Ross,Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Wednesday 17 April 2024 12:28 BST
Emergency services respond after multiple people stabbed at Sydney shopping centre

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

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

Devastating events unfolded this weekend as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi raged through Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney on a Saturday afternoon, stabbing 18 people. So far, the majority of victims, both dead and in critical conditions in hospital, have been women and girls.

I watched the footage in disbelief, the background horribly familiar. I was in Bondi Junction myself, a few months back, while on a book tour with my wife.

But what came next was also uncomfortably familiar: police saying it was “obvious” Cauchi was targeting and attacking women.

Read the full article here:

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

Holly Evans15 April 2024 20:25

Australian police probe why man who stabbed 6 people to death in a Sydney mall targeted women

Australian police are examining why a lone assailant who stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall and injured more than a dozen others targeted women while avoiding men, a police commissioner said on Monday.

Police shot and killed the homeless assailant, Joel Cauchi, during his knife attack in the Westfield Bondi Junction mall on Saturday near world-famous Bondi Beach.

Police have ruled out terrorism and said the 40-year-old had a history of mental illness.

Read the full article here:

Australian police probe why man who stabbed 6 people to death in a Sydney mall targeted women

Australian police are examining why a lone assailant who stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall and injured more than a dozen others targeted women while avoiding men

Holly Evans15 April 2024 21:11

‘Hero’ police officer who saved countless lives in Sydney mall attack named and pictured

Inspector Amy Scott had been carrying out routine duties near Westfield Bondi Junction and was the first on the scene after reports emerged that a number of people had been stabbed at the Sydney shopping mall.

After being guided by distraught members of the public, she confronted the lone knifeman, who has since been identified as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, before firing her gun.

Read the full article here:

‘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

Holly Evans15 April 2024 22:00

Parents of ‘monster’ Sydney knife attacker say son was angry he ‘couldn’t get a girlfriend’

Joel Cauchi, 40, roamed through the busy Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday with a large knife, killing six people and injuring 12 others, including a nine-month-old baby.

Speaking on Monday outside their home, Andrew Cauchi said he was “extremely sorry” to the victims of his son’s attack and that he was “heartbroken” for their loss.

Read the full article here:

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

Holly Evans15 April 2024 23:00

What we know about the six victims of the mall attack

Tributes are flooding in for the six people killed in the stabbing rampage at a shopping mall in Sydney, including for a mother who died trying to save her nine-month-old baby.

Five women and one man were killed by knife attacker Joel Cauchi in the Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction on Saturday.

The victims have been named as Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, who worked as an architect in Sydney, 55-year-old Pikria Darchia, security guard Faraz Tahir and Chinese student Yixuan Cheng. Ashlee Good, 38, died in hospital from her wounds and her nine-month-old daughter Harriet has undergone surgery.

Read the full article here

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

Holly Evans16 April 2024 00:00

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

Alexander Butler16 April 2024 00:01

Man who filmed Sydney shopping centre knifeman speaks of ‘disbelief’

Man who filmed Sydney shopping centre knifeman speaks of ‘disbelief’
Holly Evans16 April 2024 01:00

Family say woman killed protecting baby in Sydney attack was a ‘beautiful human’

The family of a woman who died while attempting to save her baby during the Sydney stabbing attack have said she was a “beautiful human” and said the baby is “doing well”.

The attacker, who killed six people in the attack at Bondi Junction before being shot dead, was identified by police as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi from Queensland.

New South Wales Police do not think he was motivated by terrorism.

Read the full article here:

Family say woman killed protecting baby in Sydney attack was a ‘beautiful human’

Ashlee Good, 38, was attempting to save her nine-month baby when she was killed.

Holly Evans16 April 2024 01:00

Sydney Opera House illuminated with black ribbon for mall stabbing victims

Sydney Opera House illuminated with black ribbon for mall stabbing victims
Holly Evans16 April 2024 02:00

Australia says Assyrian church stabbing was terrorist act

Australian police said today a knife attack on an Assyrian church bishop and some followers in Sydney was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, as the country reeled from a second stabbing incident in three days.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, including bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, when a man lunged at him with a knife during a service live-streamed yesterday.

The incident at the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley triggered clashes outside the church between police and an angry crowd of the bishop’s followers who demanded the attacker be handed over to them.

Police arrested a male teenager at the scene on Monday and were forced to hold him at the church for his own safety as the crowd of worshippers gathered outside.

“We believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism,” New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference.

“After consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident.”

Namita Singh16 April 2024 04:11

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in