SYDNEY, April 16 — At least four people were wounded, including a bishop with a global online following, in a knife attack during a service at a church in a suburb of Sydney on Monday, police and witnesses said, triggering clashes between angry residents and police.
Police said they arrested a 15-year-old male at the scene and were forced to hold him at the church in Wakeley, a suburb about 30 km west of downtown Sydney, for his own safety after a crowd gathered outside and demanded the attacker be brought out.
It was the second major stabbing attack in just three days after six people were killed in a knife attack at a beachside mall in the Bondi area.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church was speaking during an evening service on Monday when a man walked towards him and lunged with a knife, according to video of the event captured from a livestream on the church’s social media page.
Horrified members of the congregation scream as the man stabs the priest several times in the head and chest, the videos show. A separate eyewitness video, verified by Reuters and taken in the aftermath of the incident, shows the man being pinned to the ground by several others, his face obscured. A voice speaks in Arabic and says: “If they didn’t insult my prophet, I wouldn’t have come here. If he didn’t involve himself in my religion, I would not have come here.”
Police said there was “a degree of premeditation” as the male attacker travelled to the church, far from his home, with a knife.
“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.”
But Webb said police at this early stage of the investigation believe the attacker was acting alone.
Emergency crews said they attended around 30 people after the clash outside the church, and seven were taken to hospitals with injuries. Several police were hospitalised with injuries and 20 police vehicles were damaged, Webb said.
Two witnesses told Reuters the crowd threw rocks at police. More than 100 police officers were ultimately called in to deal with the unrest, and two were taken to hospital with injuries, police said.
“There was so much anger because the bishop is loved by them, he’s loved by myself as well, he preaches about the Lord and we love the Lord,” said a local resident who gave her name as Canny.
The perpetrator was taken to an undisclosed location.
New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns convened a late-night meeting of faith leaders following the attack, which unanimously condemned violence in any form.
In a separate statement, the Australian National Imams Council denounced the “horrifying” attack and urged the community to stay calm.
Police said they would patrol mosques and other places of religious worship across south-western Sydney in the early hours of Tuesday.
— Reuters
