A priest and several parishioners were stabbed this Monday, April 15, by a man, who has been arrested, during a mass in a Christian church in Sydney, which was broadcast live on social networks.
According to the New South Wales Police, whose capital is Sydney, no one has suffered life-threatening injuries and they are being treated by emergency services.
In a statement, he assured that the detainee is collaborating with the investigation, without specifying more details or establishing a cause for the assault.
The attack, which occurred at the Assyrian Church of the Good Shepherd in the Wakeley district, was carried out while the religious ceremony was broadcast live on social networks.
In the video you can see how a man dressed in black approaches the altar where the religious goes to his parish and stabs the priest repeatedly, even when he was on the ground.
The parishioners come to the aid of the religious and manage to stop the aggressor.
The priest, identified as Mar Mari Emmanuel, has thousands of followers on social networks and became popular during the Covid-19 pandemic for his ultra-conservative sermons against vaccines and the LGBT community, notes The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
The regional Ambulance Service transported the religious man, aged about 65, to a hospital, while treating three people at the scene for wounds and lacerations on their arms and hands, reports the public channel ABC.
As a result of the incident, disturbances have been reported around the church, located in a multicultural community in western Sydney, between the authorities and a crowd demanding that the person responsible for the attack be handed over to them, as seen in a video posted on social networks.
“A large police response is underway and the public is urged to avoid the area,” police said.
This stabbing occurs about 48 hours after another stabbing incident in a shopping center in the Australian city, which left seven dead – including the attacker.
To read more: Terror in Sydney: images of the attack that left seven people stabbed are revealed
The Police ruled out that Saturday’s attack was terrorist and investigated this Monday if it was due to a femicide. EFE
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