A nine-month-old baby who was stabbed when a knife-wielding attacker rampaged through a busy Sydney shopping centre is in a “serious but stable condition”, police have said.
Six people were killed and several others – including the infant – were injured during the attack.
The baby is in a “serious but stable condition in hospital,” New South Wales police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke, said adding that the death toll remained at six, plus the attacker.
The attacker, who was tracked down and shot dead by a policewoman, has been identified as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi from Queensland and there is “nothing” to suggest a terror motive, according to police.
Mr Cooke said he is believed to have come to New South Wales last month and the police have spoken to his family, who are co-operating with the investigation.
He added: “As I had said last night, there is still to this point nothing that we have, no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise.
“We know that the offender in the matter suffers from mental health.
“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved.”
Irishman caught up in Sydney attack feared for his life
The incident occurred at the sprawling Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, which was packed with thousands of Saturday afternoon shoppers.
Witnesses described how Cauchi wore shorts and an Australian national rugby league jersey. He was seen running through the mall with a knife randomly attacking people.
Some shoppers and staff at the mall tried to stop him and crowds sheltered in shuttered shops.
New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said five women and one man had died.
A New South Wales Ambulance spokesperson told AFP that eight patients were taken to various hospitals across Sydney, including the baby who was taken to the city’s children’s hospital.
“They all have traumatic injuries,” the official said.
Security camera footage showed a man wearing an Australian rugby league jersey running around the shopping centre with a large knife.
Additional reporting Press Association
