Police arrested a 15-year-old boy after a bishop was stabbed during a live broadcast sermon in the second knife assault in Australia’s largest city in three days.
The teenager, who has not been named, is accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, a senior figure in the ultra-conservative Assyrian Orthodox Church, and three other people.
The attack was captured on video, with graphic footage showing a person dressed in black approaching the altar of the Christ the Good Shepherd Church and launching a furious attack on the bishop’s head and upper body.
In a briefing hours after the attack, New South Wales police said the alleged knifeman was known to them.
The boy had asked to speak with his parents and police were considering the request, said Andrew Holland, the acting assistant commissioner.
Boy treated for injuries
He is being treated for injuries to his hands amid unconfirmed reports that somebody cut off one or more of his fingers in an act of vengeance after the teenager was tackled to the ground by members of the congregation.
“Reports are that he has injuries to his hands. I don’t know the extent of those injuries at this point,” said commissioner Holland. “His injuries are quite severe to his hand. He’s fairly upset and fairly distraught.”
In video footage posted on social media, several people appear to be holding down the alleged assailant. He is straddled by a man who has bloodstains on his trousers.
The video shows the teenager apparently smiling at the camera.
The attack happened as the bishop led a Mass that was being broadcast live online.
As he was stabbed, people in the congregation started screaming and rushed to his aid. At least three people suffered knife injuries in the melee that followed, according to the NSW ambulance service.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, authorities said.
The attacker was arrested at the scene, with New South Wales police saying he had been “removed from the church and taken to an undisclosed location”.
Angry crowds congregated outside the church, demanding vengeance for the attack on the bishop. Hundreds of people tried to push past a phalanx of riot police to reach the suspect.
Officers with riot shields pushed them back.
During the standoff, a police helicopter hovered overhead, telling people to leave the area immediately.
Protesters threw projectiles at police as the confrontation continued into the night.
At least two officers were injured – one of them suffered a broken jaw after being hit with a brick – and police vehicles had their windows smashed.
A police officer told the Sydney Morning Herald: “The crowd was attacking us, throwing things and being aggressive as we tried to help their bishop. I said to them ‘we are not your enemy’.”
The attack came just two days after a lone knifeman killed six people in a stabbing rampage at a Westfield shopping centre in Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon. A dozen people were injured before the attacker, a Queensland man with mental health issues named Joel Cauchi, was shot dead.
The latest attack happened in a suburb called Wakeley, about 18 miles to the west of Bondi Junction.
The neighbourhood is home to a small Christian Assyrian community, many of whom fled persecution and war in Iraq and Syria.
There was no suggestion that the attacks were in any way related.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, said: “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and first responders who are working to keep us safe. It’s important that the community remain calm and continue to listen and act to the directions of police and emergency services. We are a strong community in NSW and it’s important that we all stick together, particularly in the face of adversity.”
The attack on the bishop was condemned by leaders of several faiths.
Alex Ryvchin, from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, wrote on X that he was “horrified by the stabbing attack on a bishop at an Assyrian Church in Sydney”.
He said he stood in solidarity “with the beautiful Assyrian community and pray that the injured recover fully in body and soul.”
The Australian National Imams Council said it “unequivocally” condemned the stabbing attack.
“These attacks are horrifying and have no place in Australia,” the council said in a statement.
For Australians, the church attack compounded the trauma of Saturday’s shopping centre knife rampage in a country in which such violence is rare.
Bishop Emmanuel has a reputation as a fire and brimstone preacher who expresses anti-LGBTQ+ views and was highly sceptical over lockdown measures and vaccinations during the Covid pandemic.
In May last year, a video posted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about a campaign targeting the LGBTQ+ community showed him saying during a sermon that “when a man calls himself a woman, he is neither a man nor a woman, you are not a human, then you are an it. Now, since you are an it, I will not address you as a human anymore because it is not my choosing, it is your choosing.”
Emmanuel was ordained a priest in 2009 and made a bishop in 2011. He is a popular figure on social media, with clips of his sermons garnering millions of views on platforms including TikTok and YouTube.
3:19PM
Pictured: Riot police gather outside church
2:55PM
Police officer injured amid knife attack protests, reports suggest
A police officer was among those injured amid protests following a knife attack in Western Sydney, local media reported.
Ben Fordham, a radio host for 2GM, made the claim to Sky News Australia, adding that police had used pepper spray to disperse crowds who had gathered.
“Things are so volatile outside this church following the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, they’ve had to deploy capsicum spray outside that church,” he said.
Videos of the incident showed dozens of police officers dressed up in riot gear, amid reports multiple people had been pepper sprayed and several police and paramedics injured in protests following the attack, which injured left four people with laceration injuries.
1:32PM
Pictured: Crowds and ambulances gather outside Sydney church
1:24PM
New South Wales premier calls for ‘calm’
Chris Minns, the New South Wales premier, has called for “calm” amid “disturbing” scenes in Sydney.
“Disturbing scenes tonight in Wakeley tonight,” Mr Minns said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and first responders who are working to keep us safe.”
The state premier urged members of the public to “remain calm” as reports emerged of thousands of protestors gathered outside the church where a man carried out a stabbing attack on a bishop and worshipers earlier today.
“It’s important that the community remain calm and continue to listen and act to the directions of Police and Emergency Services,” Mr Minns said. “We are a strong community in NSW and it’s important that we all stick together, particularly in the face of adversity.”
Disturbing scenes tonight in Wakeley tonight.I have received a briefing from the Commissioner of Police and NSW Health on the situation.My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and first responders who are working to keep us safe.1/2
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) April 15, 2024
1:08PM
Update: Police urges public to avoid the area
New South Wales police have said a “large police response is under way” and urged members of the public to “avoid” the area.
The police warning comes amid reports of riots unfolding outside the church where the stabbing took place.
Police remain at the scene in Wakeley, south-west Sydney.
UPDATE: Police remain at the scene of an alleged stabbing at a church in Wakeley in Sydney’s southwest. About 7.10pm tonight (Monday 15 April 2024) police were called to Welcome Street, Wakeley, following reports a number of people were stabbed. Officers attached to…
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) April 15, 2024
12:58PM
Police use tear gas to break up protests, reports suggest
A riot has broken out on the streets of Sydney following the stabbing of a Bishop and his congregation, local media reported, with police apparently forced to deploy tear gas.
In the aftermath of the stabbing of four people at Christ The Good Shepherd Church, located in Fairfield’s Wakeley suburb, hundreds have gathered in protest, hurling bottles and bricks at a police barrier, footage of the incident posted on social media showed.
Chants of “an eye for an eye” could be heard in one video, while footage showed confrontations breaking out between members of the crowd.
Windows of cars outside the church were reportedly smashed amid the commotion, while one video appeared to show a ladder being used to shatter a window of the church.
Police were allegedly forced to use tear gas to enable their officers to get away from the area after a perimeter they had constructed was breached by rioters, MailOnline reported.
In one video, some of those gathered could be heard shouting “they attack us with gas”.
12:31PM
Reports of street protests in western Sydney
Local riots have allegedly broken out following the attack at a Church in western Sydney.
Frank Carbone, the mayor of Fairfield, told Sky News Australia: “I do call for calm. Police will do their job and please let’s not make the police’s job any harder.”
The stabbing took place at Christ The Good Shepherd Church, located in Fairfield’s Wakeley suburb.
“We live in difficult times right now… so I can understand frustration and the anger from the communities but I ask them as the mayor just to please be calm,” Mr Carbone said.
He added that he believe Bishop Mari Mari Emmanuel, who was stabbed multiple times by an unknown assailant, would be “OK” after being taken to hospital.
“Bishops and priests they’re very very important in our community, they only preach love and peace, and to have this happen to one of them is horrific,” he said.
12:20PM
Eyewitnesses report seeing ‘numerous blows’
An eyewitness to the Christ The Good Shepherd Church’s livestream said Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was struck with “numerous blows”.
“I was watching the live stream, a young male attacked him, potentially with a weapon was hard to tell but was fast and numerous blows,” they wrote on Facebook.
“The church stepped in and then the live stream cut out and was removed. Please all pray four our beautiful and brave Bishop.”
Footage of the incident show dozens of people bashing on ambulance windows as onlookers film a confrontation breaking out in the background, Sky reported.
Another video shows a confrontation in the crowd after a man threw a chair onto a crowd of people pushing and shoving.
12:12PM
Explained: Who is Bishop Emmanuel?
The apparent target of the stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, is a prominent religious leader and member of the Australian Assyrian Church of the East.
The bishop was approached at the alter of his church while giving Mass and appeared to be repeatedly stabbed by a man dressed in all black as horrified onlookers tried to intervene.
The Bishop gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic for describing Sydney’s lockdown as “mass slavery”.
He also claimed vaccines were futile because living “normally” would boost immunity.
He has a large following on social media, including nearly 10 thousand followers on TikTok.
11:57AM
Four people injured in stabbing spree
Four people were injured after a knifeman launched an attack on a bishop and his congregation at a Sydney church.
New South Wales Ambulance paramedics were called to the scene at around 7.15pm (10.15am BST) on Monday, NCA NewsWire reported.
A spokesman said a man aged in his 50s was taken to Liverpool Hospital with multiple stab wounds, news.com.au reported. Three other people were also injured and are still being treated at the scene.
A man in his 30s suffered multiple lacerations. a man in his 20s suffered a cut to his hand, and a man in his 60s suffered a wound to his arm, the report added.
11:50AM
Watch: How the attack happened
11:47AM
One person arrested, Sydney police say
New South Wales Police have said a man was arrested after reports of “a number of people” stabbed in western Sydney.
The injured people suffered non-life threatening injuries and are being treated by paramedics, the police reported.
11:42AM
Mapped: Where the stabbing took place
The stabbing took place during an evening service at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, western Sydney.
The post Boy arrested after Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbed at Sydney church appeared first on The Telegraph.
