A young man has attempted to stab a number of people in Sydney’s central business district with one woman rushed to hospital covered in blood.
NSW Police on Tuesday afternoon said a man was in custody after a woman was stabbed in a hotel. She’s been taken to hospital in a stable condition with a stab wound to her back.
Witnesses have told AAP a young man armed with a 30-centimetre kitchen knife had been yelling religious statements.
Police say it’s been reported he was yelling “Allahu Akbar.”
Witness Zak Barry said he saw the man fall down on York Street “and as he’s falling he dropped a kitchen knife.”
Paul O’Shaughnessy, 37, said his brother Luke, 30, saw a man with a balaclava wielding a knife.
The pair chased the man and then managed to get a grip on him with the help of a third person.
“He’s got blood all over him … shouting religious statements,” O’Shaughnessy told reporters.
Video posted on Twitter shows the man yelled at police: “F***ing shoot me in the f***ing head” before he was wrestled to the ground by bystanders and a milk crate was placed over his head.
“A number of members of the public physically restrained the offender,” Superintendent Gavin Wood said.
“I want to acknowledge those members of the public who got involved. They were significantly brave people.”
Supt Wood said it appeared Tuesday’s attack was unprovoked and the man had acted alone.
A caller to 2GB radio confirmed the young man had been tackled to the ground.
“He’s definitely been detained … he’s been taken away,” the caller, Tom, said.
It appears the man in question has been arrested. pic.twitter.com/hMLyKhUDZi
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) August 13, 2019
The woman was taken out of the Hotel CBD and placed into an ambulance.
“So insane! A random dude just started stabbing people in the city right outside where we were having lunch,” @JackHuddo said on Twitter.
So insane! A random dude just started stabbing people in the city right outside where we were having lunch. I saw people running so I ran towards him with a few other guys.
He ran all the way back to near my work where a lot of others had cornered him for the police! #sydney pic.twitter.com/SQvqfDRz88
— JackHuddo | #GangGang (@JackHuddo) August 13, 2019
An Uber driver said he saw people running away “and next thing I see this guy jumping over the car, he went over the bonnet, and went on top of the car.”
“He had a little bit of blood on his shirt,” the driver told 2GB.
NSW Police have set up a series of roadblocks in the area.
“A number of crime scenes have been established,” a spokesperson said.
Supt Wood said there was no ongoing threat after the man’s arrest.
