One man has been killed and two others hospitalized after a man stabbed them in a crowded shopping street in the Australian city of Melbourne on Friday after crashing a car loaded with gas cylinders into a shopping mall.
To reduce the attacker, an officer shot him in the chest and was taken under police surveillance to a hospital, where he died. Although at first, the police had reported that the individual had “no known links to terrorism”, shortly after-described what happened as “terrorist attack” and has indicated that the author of the incident was originally from Somalia and known by the intelligence services.
The witness then picked up a rubber weight on the ground to help the officers under siege. He said terrified bystanders were yelling “shoot him, shoot him.”https://t.co/G4hiLs3rLIpic.twitter.com/mMUx0D5yTg
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) 9 November 2018
The alleged attacker left armed with a knife of a burning vehicle after it had apparently crashed into a shopping center on Bourke Street, which was packed with people and is close to the Parliament of the State of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital. After leaving the car, the author of the attack was launched with a knife against those present.
David Clayton, the spokesman for the Victoria State Police, told a news conference that “three people have been stabbed, unfortunately one of them has died” at the scene. It is a man who has received a stab in the neck. The other two are hospitalized.
The man had no “known links to terrorism,” said the same spokesman, who added however that this line of investigation was kept open in search of any possible connection. The spokesman said that the police responded “initially to the complaint of a car on fire.”
Shortly after, the police have rectified and said that it investigates what happened as a “terrorist attack” and has revealed that the man, of Somali origin, was known by the intelligence services.
The incident was recorded in the business district of Melbourne at the time that employees began to leave their work centers for the weekend. The police have asked the population to avoid the sector, although he has specified that he does not look for other suspects.
