One dead, two in critical condition in Sydney’s west
Updated ,first published
Eyewitnesses have described a terrifying scream as pedestrians fled danger and others rushed to help bleeding victims after a random stabbing attack in Western Sydney left one person dead and two in a critical condition.
Police were called to Merrylands Road, Merrylands, just after 10am on Tuesday, where witnesses told police a man had stabbed multiple people before fleeing on foot.
The reign of terror spread from one end of the block to the other, and the scene stretched for nearly 50 metres.
An attack occurred inside or outside Bina’s Nepalese grocery store on Merrylands Road, just around the corner from Granville MP Julia Finn’s office. Medical equipment and police forensic signs were dotted along the street.
Medical teams treated 3 people. A person aged between 30 and 40 died at the scene. He has not yet been officially identified. Two other people, a 47-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man, were hospitalized in critical condition.
Joseph Roussini, 59, called Triple Zero after hearing a woman “screaming for her life.”
“I could see a man and a woman coming out of the store, the man was holding the woman by her neck, blood was flowing from her neck and he was trying to stop the bleeding,” he said.
“[She] “He was in a terrible situation.”
He said bystanders rushed to help and every “second passed like a year” as they waited for paramedics.
A shop owner said he heard a scream and saw people “running” down the street. Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she saw dark police cars driving along the street and helicopters circling above her shortly after the incident.
“It was really sad,” he said. “I don’t feel safe.”
None of the victims were related to the others.
Inspector Simon Glasser said police quickly locked down the area but it took around 40 minutes to find the suspected criminal.
A 25-year-old man was arrested behind a house near Smythe Street in Merrylands. He was taken to Granville Police Station and is expected to be charged later Tuesday.
The man was known to police for minor crimes and a string of mental health incidents, Glasser said.
“It was extremely confronting. It was a horrific attack that occurred,” Glasser said.
Police also found a 20-30 centimeter kitchen knife near the scene, believed to have been used in the attack.
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Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
