Sydney:

An Indian-origin couple hid in a back room and barricaded themselves with cardboard boxes with dozens of others after a man stabbed six people to death, before killing a Sydney man on Saturday. Shot dead by police in a busy shopping center. A media report.

Shoi Ghoshal, from Sydney, told the BBC that she and her husband, Debashis Chakraborty, were at the Westfield shopping center in Bondi Junction earlier today when the attack began.

The 36-year-old told how he was inside a store when it became clear something was wrong.

Ghosal said he heard some people coming into the store and thought there was a fire but “people were saying someone was stabbing very fast”.

“We went into a back room, a store room, and used boxes to barricade ourselves in,” he said, adding that between 20 and 25 people were forced inside.

An elderly woman was crying for her husband who was still outside, Ghosal said. He described how when the group called the police, they told them what was happening and told them to “stay there, stay calm”.

The group was later evacuated through the mall’s emergency exit, where they were met by a swarm of police cars.

“It was beyond terrifying. It plays on your mind that you could be one of the victims. We are thankful that we are safe and our thoughts are with those who have suffered. These are their families. is terrible for,” he told the BBC.

Four women and a man died at the scene, while a fifth woman succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, police said.

Eight people are being treated for injuries in hospitals around Sydney, including a nine-month-old baby who recently underwent surgery, the BBC reports.

Authorities say the suspect is a 40-year-old man, but they are awaiting formal identification and say it is “too early to speculate” on his motive.

Police say the suspect entered the shopping center at Bondi Junction at around 15:10 local time and then left “a long time later” before returning ten minutes later and walking through the mall.

A senior female officer near the scene was the first to respond and saw the suspect lunging at her before she was shot, police said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albany hailed the officer as a “hero”. He performed CPR until paramedics arrived, but the suspect could not be revived.

Police believe the suspect acted alone and poses no threat to the public.

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