One man has been killed and two more people are in a critical condition after allegedly being stabbed in a “random” attack in a multicultural western Sydney suburb.
The alleged attack took place inside two premises and on the footpath near Bina’s Nepalese grocery store on Merrylands Road in Merrylands just after 10am on Tuesday, and a man in his 30s or 40s who is yet to be formally identified died at the scene.
Another man, 22, and a woman, 47, were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, and police arrested a 25-year-old man on nearby Smythe Street, and he was taken to Merrylands Police Station where he is expected to be charged.
CCTV obtained by Newswire shows the alleged knifeman in a white T-shirt and cap running down a footpath behind a woman walking with a pram.
NSW Police Superintendent Simon Glasser said on Tuesday afternoon the alleged knifeman was known to them for petty crime and had mental health issues, and had no known links to the alleged victims, saying it was likely a “random attack”, 9News reported.
“As far as we’re aware at this point there is no relationship between the three alleged victims, they were by themselves on Merrylands Road when this occurred.,” he said.
“It was highly confronting. It’s a horrible offence to have taken place.”
He said police had found a weapon similar to a kitchen knife but were yet to confirm whether it was used in the alleged attack.
Local resident Joseph Roussini told The Sydney Morning Herald and Newswire he heard a woman’s “deathly scream” coming from inside a shop.
“It was horrible, absolutely horrible,” he said.
“I could see a man and a lady coming out of the shop, and the man was holding the lady by the neck, and there was blood pouring out of her neck, and he was trying to stop the bleeding.”
Mr Roussini said she was in a “terrible state” and “every second felt like a year” during the wait for paramedics to arrive.
At the time of the 2021 Census Merrylands was 40.9% Australian-born, 10.9% Australian ancestry, 27.5% Islamic, and just 26.2% of the population spoke only English at home.
Header image: Left, CCTV of the suspect (Newswire). Right, the scene of the stabbing (9News).
