Witness recounts moment attacker stabbed at Australian shopping mall

Witnesses in the Sydney shopping centre saw the attacker pull out a knife and rush towards the crowd as people screamed and ran away.

An unnamed witness said she was about to enter the Coles store at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney on April 13 when she saw a man pull out a knife. “I immediately ran away,” she said, adding that she then heard gunshots.

Police cordon off outside Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney on April 13. Photo: AFP

Ellie Williams, 21, had just finished lunch with friends on the top floor of the food court at 3:40 p.m. (12:40 p.m. Hanoi time) when she saw people screaming and running away.

"Everyone was confused. We were told there was a guy stabbing people downstairs," she said. "People were hiding in the store. We looked down and saw a guy in a hoodie chasing people with a knife."

"I heard screaming as I was about to go down the escalator," Williams said. As she was leaving through the emergency exit, she heard three gunshots. There were no police in the mall, and no alarms were going off at the time of the incident.

Australian police subdue a suspect at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre. Photo: News.com.au

Hannah Bodrozic and Guy Johnston were shopping in Country Road when they saw a group of about 20 young people fleeing down an escalator. They had no idea what was happening until someone shouted: "There's a stabbing!"

It was chaos. "We didn't know where to go. We tried to go back to another area but there were people running down that direction," Bodrozic said.

The two stood there, confused. Shops around them began to close their shutters and people started running. "We heard three gunshots and everyone started screaming," she said.

About 100 people ran out through the fire escape. "I never thought something like this would happen in Sydney," Johnston said.

Roi Huberman, a sound engineer, was in a store when he heard the gunshots.

“We suddenly heard one or two gunshots and didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Then someone in the store told us to go back inside and lock the door. She let us go around the back and out of the mall.”

Emergency evacuation instructions inside Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre on April 13. Photo: X/Markhudson

Video and images on social media showed at least seven ambulances and six police cars outside the mall. The area was cordoned off and people were asked to stay away.

Hong Hanh (According to ABC/SMH )

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