2024-04-15 23:31:44
A bishop and three other people were injured in a knife attack at a church in Australia on Monday. Investigators classified the attack in Wakeley, about 30 kilometers west of Sydney, as an act of terrorism. The police came to this conclusion after evaluating the available material, said Karen Webb, the police chief of the state of New South Wales, at a press conference on Tuesday morning (local time).
The victims of the alleged perpetrator, who according to media reports is only 15 years old, include the bishop of the local Assyrian community and several priests who held a mass in the church on Monday evening. A crowd formed outside the Assyrian church of Christ The Good Shepherd in the western suburb of Wakeley after the alleged perpetrator was arrested. According to two witnesses, she demanded the suspect’s extradition and threw stones. Several officers were injured and emergency vehicles were damaged during the riots. Webb announced that police would investigate and hold all perpetrators of violence accountable.
Video footage was published online showing a man in a black sweater stabbing the bishop several times before churchgoers overpowered the perpetrator. According to Webb, the crime was probably committed with a folding knife. The perpetrator himself was also injured – it initially remained unclear how he suffered the apparently serious injuries.
“There was so much anger because the bishop is loved by them, including me,” said a resident who gave her name as Canny. “He preaches about the Lord and we love the Lord.” According to previous media reports, he became known for taking a hard line during the pandemic, for example when he castigated the lockdowns as “mass slavery”. In a sermon posted online, he declared that the United Nations was founded by Satan. Some of his sermons on the short video service TikTok have been viewed millions of times.
The attack came three days after a stabbing spree in Sydney. Seven people were killed in the attack on Saturday in a shopping center. According to the investigators’ initial findings, the perpetrator apparently has psychological problems and a terrorist background has been ruled out. Australia has comparatively strict gun laws and such attacks are rare.
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