A young woman is in stable condition after being stabbed in a Sydney hotel on Tuesday as a man ran through the streets brandishing a knife before being tackled by passers-by.
Police confirmed that the man detained by witnesses on central Sydney’s King Street had been taken to Day Street Police Station and an investigation was ongoing.
“We are in the infancy stage of the stabbing investigation. There are a number of crime scenes. They are being thoroughly investigated by investigative and forensic staff as we speak and the investigation is ongoing,” police said at a press conference.
A local Uber driver named Leon told Sydney radio station 2GB that a man covered in blood brandishing a large knife had leapt on the bonnet of his car.
In footage shared online that appeared to show the incident, although they haven't been verified, show a man jumping on a car shouting "shoot me"., He then appears to fall from the roof of the car as the driver pulls off and is tackled and detained by bystanders who shout at him "Do you know how many people you just stabbed?"
Superintendent Gavin Wood of New South Wales police confirmed a single casualty but said the suspect had tried to attack a number of people.
“There are no other injuries at this stage I can confirm. The offender has attempted to stab multiple people. Those attempts thankfully were unsuccessful. Again I will put on record we have a female person with a stab wound to the back currently being treated by paramedics and is en route to a Sydney hospital,” he said. There was no indication that she knew her attacker, he said.
Police said the man was acting alone.
However, police later found the body of a woman in a building nearby. "Officers from Sydney City police area command are on the scene and will conduct inquiries into whether the incident is linked to an earlier stabbing at a hotel on the corner of Clarence and King St," police said.