Sydney’s second knife attack in days being investigated as terrorist act

Christ The Good Shepherd Church said in a statement Tuesday that the attacker approached Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the lectern as he was preaching a sermon in Assyrian at about 7:05 p.m. local time. The attacker lunged at the bishop with a concealed knife, delivering blows to his head and body. Parish priest Father Isaac Royel was also injured in the attack, the church said. The attack was live-streamed on its Facebook page and on YouTube.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters on Tuesday that the bishop and priest had undergone surgery and were “lucky to be alive.”

A large crowd gathered outside Christ the Good Shepherd Church immediately after the incident, and some clashed with police, throwing bricks and other objects. A number of officers were injured and police vehicles damaged, New South Wales Police said in a statement.

The stabbing comes as the city’s residents are still reeling from another attack by a knife-wielding assailant at a busy shopping mall on Saturday.

Six people were killed in that attack, and more than a dozen others were wounded — including a 9-month-old infant whose mother was among those killed. The attacker, identified by police as Joel Cauchi, 40, was fatally shot by a police officer.

Police have said that Saturday’s attack, which happened not far from Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach, was not linked to terrorism and that Cauchi had a history of mental illness. Investigators are examining why Cauchi targeted women as he roamed the seven-story mall. An unarmed male security guard was also killed.

Mass killings are rare in Australia, where semiautomatic and automatic rifles and shotguns were banned after a mass shooting in 1996.

Chris Minns, the New South Wales premier, said Monday’s incident was distressing, coming just days after the Bondi Junction stabbing. Speaking at a news conference early Tuesday, he said that the city’s residents were “on edge.”

He called for calm, urging against any “tit-for-tat” response to the latest attack, which police have said was religiously motivated.

In a video shared widely on social media, a person in dark clothing can be seen approaching the bishop and then repeatedly attacking him with a sharp object. The video has not been verified by the police or The Washington Post.

Before the video pans to the left, obstructing the view of the attack, members of the congregation can be seen rushing toward the bishop. The attack, captured on the live stream that has now been removed from the church’s social media channels, lasted less than eight seconds.

The bishop has amassed a large online following for his viral sermons extolling “traditional” values and opining on global politics and religions. During the coronavirus pandemic, he preached against lockdowns and vaccinations.

Initial police investigations indicate the attack was driven by “religious-motivated extremism,” Webb said. She said the teenager made comments to the bishop as he approached that were “centered around religion.”

Maham Javaid contributed to this report.