Stabbing at a church in Australia captured on live broadcast
A suspect was arrested after several people were injured during a stabbing at a church in Wakeley, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, on Monday night. (Credit: Christ the Good Shepherd Church)
Australian police have arrested a man suspected of stabbing a church leader and several parishioners during mass Monday night, authorities said.
The attack occurred at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, a suburb in Sydney's southwest, during a live-streamed service.
Police were called at around 7.10pm to Welcome Street following reports that several people had been stabbed, New South Wales Police said in a statement.
Officers arrested a suspect, who was being questioned by authorities. Those injured in the stabbing suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at the scene before being transported to a hospital, police said.
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In this still image from the social media livestream, an attacker approaches Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a church service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, Sydney, Australia, on Monday night. (Church of Christ the Good Shepherd / Reuters)
The church's livestream showed a man, later identified as Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, behind the church altar as a man walked toward him holding an unknown object. The man lunged at him and started stabbing him in the chest.
Parishioners screamed and rushed to help the bishop, who could be seen falling to the ground as the suspect continued to attack.
A police tactical team works at the scene following a stabbing at the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, Australia, on Monday. (Reuters/Lewis Jackson)
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel is the leader of a conservative sect of the Assyrian Orthodox faith, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Several people suffered non-life-threatening injuries when a man began stabbing a priest at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, Australia, on Monday. (AAP Image/Paul Braven via Reuters)
Murray Norman, chief executive of Faith New South Wales, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the stabbing was “horrific”.
Police are at the scene following a stabbing at the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, Australia, on Monday. (AAP Image/Paul Braven via Reuters)
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“I haven't heard of his condition, but religious communities are desperately grieving and praying for the bishop. It's just horrible that this could happen after everything that happened this week,” Norman said.
