Witnesses Describe How Policewoman Took Down Sydney Knifeman, Video Shows Man With Bollard Fending Him Off

A brave cop and a brave shopper tackled the knifeman who stabbed five people to death and injured several people, including a nine-month-old baby, at Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday. The female cop was the one who shot dead the knife-wielding man.

Another video, shared by X user Matt Vandenburg, shows a brave shopper with a bollard confronting the attacker who was trying to reach another storey of the busy, six-levelled shopping centre with his knife.

Rakesh Sanga, 33, who owns a Westfield Bondi Junction shop, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he first heard shouting outside his store and then saw a man with a knife.

When he saw the man, he had just thrown the knife and the police shot him moments after. “I went to see what was happening. Police coming from the other side. The man coming with the knife… Everyone was running,” Sanga was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Sanga said the man was wearing a green t-shirt, which many other witnesses have also confirmed while speaking to Australian news media agencies.

“I think she shot like two times or three times,” Sanga said, adding that the man threw the knife towards a mobile store before being shot.

The man appeared to be dead, as per photographs accessed by Australian news media outlets.

Sanga said he initially did not shut the doors but once he heard gunshots he turned off the lights and closed the store.

“I’m advised that there are five victims who are now deceased as a result of the actions of this offender,” said New South Wales police assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke.

The motive was not immediately clear, but Cooke said “terrorism” could not be ruled out at this stage.

“I do not know at this stage who he is. You would understand this is quite raw. Inquiries are very new and we are continuing to make attempts to identify the offender in this matter,” said Cooke.