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The mother who was among six victims killed in the knife attack at a Sydney shopping centre has been identified in local reports as Ash Good, whose nine-month-old baby is also among the wounded and has undergone surgery.
Over the course of his rampage, four women and one man were killed, while 38-year-old Ms Good died in hospital. Another eight people remain in hospital around Sydney.
The attacker, who is believed to be a 40-year-old male who was known to law enforcement, was also shot dead by a police inspector. While his identity has not been confirmed, police understand he was acting alone and the incident is not terror-related.
A shocking video has shown the suspect armed with a large knife, while shoppers take cover in shops as one brave individual attempts to ward him off on an escalator.
One eyewitness reported seeing Ms Good’s baby with stab wounds, with the “terrified” mother attempting to console her child as they were taken to an ambulance.
Other witnesses reported hearing gunshots as they hid inside stores, with one saying of the attacker: “He had a nice big blade on him. He looked like he was on a killing spree.”
News anchor describes attack victim as ‘incredible person’ with ‘world at her feet’
A Sky News Australia anchor who knew the Ash Good, the first victim of the attack to be identified, described her as an “incredible person” who “had the world at her feet”.
Presenter Laura Jayes told Sky News: “So many family and friends wanted to be at the hospital this afternoon, they had to take turns going in and out of the waiting room. Her baby went into surgery and her mum didn’t make it.”
Ms Jayes added: “She was one of those all-rounders. She was an incredible athlete. She was so smart, so beautiful.
“She was just so excited to be a new mother, and all of that was ripped away in seconds here this afternoon. You want her baby to eventually know what an incredible mother her mum was.”
Watch: Bondi shop worker locks doors and tells customers to ‘get back’ amid knife attack
Shoppers told ‘run, run, run’ as attack unfolded
New South Wales police believe a 40-year-old man was responsible for the Saturday afternoon attack at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction. They said they were not able to name him until a formal identification had taken place but that they weren’t treating the attack as terrorism-related.
The man was shot dead by a police inspector after he turned and raised a knife, New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters.
“This all happened very, very quickly — the officer that was in the vicinity attended on her own, was guided to the location of the offender by people who were in the centre,” he said. “She took the actions that she did saving a range of people’s lives.”
The attack at the shopping center, one of the country’s busiest and which was a hub of activity on a particularly warm autumn afternoon, began around 3:10pm, and police were swiftly called.
“They just said run, run, run — someone’s been stabbed,” one witness told ABC TV in Australia. “[The attacker] was walking really calmly like he was having an ice cream in a park. And then he went up the escalators … and probably within about a minute we heard three gunshots.”
Ash Good described as ‘beautiful person’ and ‘wonderful athlete’
In the first tributes from those who knew Ash Good, the first victim to be identified, she was described as a “beautiful person, a wonderful athlete”, who had been “so excited” to welcome her child.
Sunak’s ‘heart goes out’ to those affected by ‘devastating’ Sydney attack
Rishi Sunak has said his “heart goes out” to those affected by the “truly devastating” attack in Sydney.
“The horrific attacks at Bondi Junction are truly devastating,” the prime minister wrote on X/Twitter.
“My heart goes out to those affected by this abhorrent act of violence, and I pray for the recovery of those left injured and traumatised today. You are in the thoughts and prayers of the British people.”
Full report: Mother who desperately tried to save injured baby among six killed in attack
A first-time mother was among those killed in a shock stabbing spree at a Sydney shopping mall, with her nine-month-old baby undergoing surgery after suffering knife wound injuries.
Ash Good, 38, is the first victim to be identified, with witnesses reporting that she handed over her small child to other terrified shoppers for them to carry out make-shift medical aid.
My colleague Holly Evans has the full report:
Mother killed in attack identified as Ash Good
The mother who was among six vicims killed in the knife attack at a Sydney shopping centre has been identified in local reports as Ash Good, whose nine-month-old baby is also among the wounded and has undergone surgery.
Pictures of the 38-year-old are now being widely reported.
Mother ‘handed baby to bystanders’ during attack
The mother of the nine-month-old baby who underwent surgery after being attacked in the Bondi Junction stabbing spree is said to have handed her baby over to bystanders while struggling with her injuries.
It has been reported that the baby’s mother died in hospital after the attack by a lone knifeman.
A man told 9News Sydney: “The baby got stabbed. The mum got stabbed and came over with a baby and threw it at me – I was holding the baby, it looked pretty bad. There was a lot of blood on the floor.”
The man’s brother said: “He helped with holding the baby and trying to compress the baby and same with the mother. We just kept yelling out to get some clothes, get some shirts and just help us to compress and stop the baby from bleeding.”
The man added: “We were just shopping and saw the man run up to the woman with the baby and then we were both ready to go and help out.
“But I just said to my brother, we’ve got to run in – ran in, told the guys to lock up the doors and then the mother came with the baby bleeding, stabbed. We got them into the store and just got them safe and then rang for help.”
Witnesses praised for ‘amazing courage and bravery’
Shoppers provided make-shift medical aid to victims and attempted to stop the attacker as he went on a “rampage” through the busy Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.
The highest-ranking police officer in New South Wales, Commissioner Karen Webb, thanked the shopkeepers and shoppers who “showed amazing courage and bravery”.
The knifeman targeted “shoppers peacefully going about their lives” but “their first instinct in the face of danger was to help someone else”, Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese said.
Man confronted attacker with a bollard, footage suggests
One video show a man confronting the attacker with a bollard from the top of an escalator. Others showed people trying to move the injured to safety and help others hide in shops.
“I just saw the footage of the guy with the bollard, I reckon he’s the real hero here,” Bondi Rescue lifeguard Andy Reid, who was also shopping at the mall, told the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Reid also attended to a woman who was bleeding on the fourth floor.
Source: independent.co.uk
