The brave mother of a nine-month-old baby injured in the Sydney mall stabbing spree who died in hospital from her wounds has been named.
She was Ash Good, aged 38, and has been described by friends as “a beautiful human” and the “world’s best mum” in the wake of the tragedy.
Seven people are dead - including an attacker shot dead by a policewoman who is being credited for her bravery - and 12 more, including the baby, are in hospital with knife wounds after a mass stabbing at a busy Sydney shopping centre.
According to witnesses, Good tried to save her daughter after they were both attacked, handing her baby to two strangers as she fought for life, news.com.au reported.
The Sydney mum was rushed to St Vincent’s hospital in a critical condition but died soon after arriving.
Her baby daughter remains in a serious condition at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, in the care of medical staff and her dad, who rushed there after the attacks.
Just hours before the senseless attacks, she posted heartbreaking images of her happy nine-month-old baby girl on social media, to a soundtrack of My Girl.
The offender, a man armed with a knife, was also dead after being shot by a senior policewoman when he raised his weapon at her after she confronted him on the fifth level of the mall, Cooke said.
Story continues after liveblog
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The police inspector was nearby when the alarm was raised and was guided to the attacker by the public, confronting him alone, he said.
“She took the actions she did, saving a range of people’s lives.”
The officer was “a hero”, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last night.
Australians’ first instinct when in danger was to help others, Albanese said.
“That’s confirmation of who we are - brave, strong together.”
New Zealanders were thinking of those affected by the “tragic events in Bondi”, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said, praising the “exceptional courage” of first responders and the public.
“Australia is family.”
Police didn’t yet know who the man was, and at this stage there was no indication of a political or religious ideology behind the attack, Cooke said.
Based on initial inquiries, he acted alone.
“I am content that there is no continuing threat … [but] we’re not ruling anything out”, he said of the investigation, which would be “lengthy and precise”.
The horror, described by Albanese last night as “beyond words or understanding”, unfolded in a place that couldn’t be more benign - a popular mall on the first day of the school holidays.
And its bloody outcome proved no different to other gruesome surprise attacks inflicted on the public in recent years, including in Christchurch and Auckland.
Among the victims at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, a 9-month-old baby who was taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital and who was undergoing surgery last night.
Some of those injured were believed to be seriously or critically ill, Cooke said.
“The baby got stabbed. The mum got stabbed and the mum came over with the baby and threw it at me … it looked pretty bad”, a man told a 9 News reporter after the 3.20pm incident (5.20pm NZT).
“There was a lot of blood on the floor”, he said, with shoppers-turned-first-responders using clothing from a store to stem the blood flow.
Cell phone footage from witnesses inside the mall when the attacks took place showed gruesome scenes, and at least one person receiving CPR.
Dramatic video also showed a person holding what looked like a bollard to scare away a man wearing an old Kangaroos rugby league jersey and holding a knife as he came up towards the person on an escalator.
“This guys a legend, blocking the Bondi Junction Westfields attacker. Hope he made it out alive”, wrote a person on X.
A man was “chasing and slashing people with a knife”, one witness told The Daily Telegraph.
Incident at Bondi Junction Westfield.
— Ricardo Gonçalves (@BUSINESSricardo) April 13, 2024
Heard what sounded like gun shots when inside the centre and all ran out.
People running along top level of bridge pic.twitter.com/xoBUUt9hbk
Footage showed shoppers running for their lives across a glass pedestrian bridge. In another clip, on 9 News, heavily armed police were seen entering the mall from the roof.
The offender’s first victims were a woman and her child, according to the Telegraph.
It wasn’t clear if they were the injured mum and baby helped by the man who spoke to 9 News, but the man said he believed the baby would be ok.
He was less certain about its mother.
“She started to have a lot of blood coming out of her mouth.”
Forty ambulances were sent to the scene, with a 9 News reporter telling viewers he’d seen “paramedics covered in blood”.
Those inside the mall spoke of their fear as the incident unfolded.
A young witness locked inside a store told the Telegraph she heard gunshots and “blood-curdling” screams.
Another woman, in tears, told ABC News she heard gunshots as she hid in a backroom.
“Who does that to people? … I just came out of the gym, I was living my life and then I thought I was going to die.”
The incident was “shocking and appalling”, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with the victims, the loved ones of those killed and injured, and the Australian people.”
Any New Zealanders affected should follow the directions of local authorities. They should call +64 99 20 20 20 if they needed consular assistance.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
The woman was shaken by the incident.