Man arrested after police officer stabbed in the head in downtown Sydney

The officer was attacked by a knife-wielding 33-year-old man on Elizabeth Street in Sydney's CBD. Photo / 123RF

A police officer is expected to survive after being repeatedly stabbed near a busy Sydney park by a man who allegedly demanded that officers shoot him.

Police say the officer was performing traffic duties with another officer on the corner of Castlereagh St and Park St in Sydney’s CBD when the 33-year-old alleged attacker approached them.

The man allegedly produced a 30cm-long “kitchen-style” knife and stabbed the male officer two to three times in the back of the head.

The injured officer and a female officer chased the man to nearby Hyde Park where he was tasered and restrained with the assistance of other police.

“Whilst he was in the park, he still had the knife in his hand and he was demanding that police shoot him,” Detective Superintendent Martin Fileman told reporters.

The officer was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is in stable condition.

The alleged attacker was arrested at the scene and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where he is undergoing assessment under police guard.

He is known to police but does not have a history of mental illness recorded on the police database or a “substantial” criminal record, Det Supt Fileman said.

“This was very much an isolated incident and there is no further threat to the public,” he said.

“He will be released from hospital shortly and he will be facing very serious charges.”

It follows a series of high-profile knife crime incidents including an attack at Sydney’s Bondi Junction shopping centre where six people were fatally stabbed, and another attack on a bishop who was stabbed while delivering a sermon at a Western Sydney church.