Stabbing of bishop in Sydney church was “terrorist act”, police say

Australian police said the stabbing that injured a bishop and a priest at a Sydney church was a “terrorist act”, just two days after the Australian city was rocked by a mass stabbing in a busy shopping centre.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was presiding over a service being live-streamed at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the western suburb of Wakeley when an attacker was seen advancing towards him. Several parishioners immediately tried to intervene as screams could be heard in the church.

Members of the public restrained the alleged attacker at the scene, according to New South Wales police. Police then arrived and arrested the suspect, later identified as a 16-year-old boy, who was taken to hospital in custody and underwent a surgery due to injuries sustained during the attack. Police initially said he was 15 years old.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters on Tuesday that police believe the attack was premeditated.

“We will claim that [o suspeito] went to that church armed with a knife and stabbed the bishop and the priest… We believe that there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religiously motivated extremism,” she said.

A 53-year-old man was left with cuts to his head and a 39-year-old man, who was injured after trying to intervene, suffered cuts and a shoulder injury, police said. Both were treated by paramedics and taken to hospital.

“They are lucky to be alive,” Webb said.

In a statement, the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd said that Bishop Emmanuel suffered several blows to the head and body. Parish priest Father Isaac Royel was also injured, but no one else inside the church was hurt, he said.

Charbel Saliba, deputy mayor of Fairfield City, a western suburb of Sydney, told CNN that Emmanuel was well known in the local community.

As the bishop bled, “he placed his hand on the man who stabbed him and said something like, 'May the Lord Jesus Christ save you,'” Saliba said, citing a witness.

Riot outside the church

Video of the attack quickly spread on social media, prompting angry community members to head to the church, police said. The images showed chaotic scenes as people threw objects at police cars.

Webb, the police commissioner, condemned the “out of control” crowd that gathered shortly after officers and first responders arrived at the scene, calling their conduct “totally unacceptable.”

“People converged on that area and started attacking the police. People used whatever was available in the area, including bricks, concrete, spikes, to attack police and launch missiles at police, as well as police equipment and police vehicles,” Webb said.

New South Wales Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said paramedics and police were forced to retreat inside the church, where they hid for three and a half hours as crowds rioted outside.

“This was a rapidly evolving situation, where crowds went from 50 people to hundreds of people in a very quick period of time. Our paramedics were directly under threat,” he said.

“Six of our paramedics were unable to leave that facility for fear of their own safety. I echo the words of the police commissioner. This is outrageous.”

New South Wales Ambulance treated 30 patients, Morgan said, including seven who were taken to hospital. About 20 were treated for the effects of pepper spray.

About 20 police vehicles were damaged and 10 were considered unusable, police said.

In its statement, the Church supported the police response, saying officers took “necessary measures” when spectators and visitors who came to express their support for the bishop refused “numerous” requests from police and clergy to leave.

The Church “categorizes this attack as isolated” and “denounces retaliation of any kind”, he added.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the scenes were “disturbing” and called a meeting on Monday (15) with religious leaders representing different religious communities across western Sydney.

The suspect, who has not been identified, was not on any terrorist watch list, Police Commissioner Webb said. Police believe he acted alone, but emphasized that the investigation is in a preliminary phase.

Webb said police spoke with the boy's parents but could not provide specific details of the conversation.

The incident comes shortly after six people died and several others were injured, including a 9-month-old baby, in a knife attack at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney on Saturday (13).

Australian police said on Monday that the Bondi attacker, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, may have targeted women.

Five women were among those killed in that attack. Twelve others were injured, eight of whom remained in hospital Monday in conditions ranging from stable to critical.