Move FM Regional news

SYDNEY, Australia – An Irish man trapped in a deadly knife assault in a Sydney shopping center has described the incident, which killed six people, as “horrifying” and claimed he is “absolutely shaken to the core.”

On Saturday, a 40-year-old man with a knife killed five ladies and one man inside the shopping complex. A senior policewoman shot and killed the alleged male attacker.

Police have claimed that they do not believe the attack was terror-related.

Niall Naughton, 27, from Boston in Co. Clare, told RTE’s Saturday with Colm Mongin that when he heard a man was stabbing people inside the shopping center, he thought of his family back home in Ireland.

A mental health manager, Niall, has lived in Sydney for seven months and detailed when he realized something was happening.

“I just decided to go in and shop for myself for the day; generally, I don’t go around Bondi, but for some reason, I did on Saturday.

“So, I went in and got my haircut, which was on the same floor that everything happened, and went downstairs to Zara to get some clothes for myself, and then that’s when the events unfolded.

“I picked out the things I wanted to try on and walked to the dressing room when I heard what sounded like a stampede of cattle running through the store. I had the curtain drawn so I couldn’t see anything, and then someone pulled it back and said, “Get out, get out, get out, you need to go, you need to go. Someone is stabbing.”

“At this point, because we were all racing in the same direction, we had no idea what was happening. Zara workers escorted us down to the basement. They successfully bolted the door,’ he said.

“Everyone was shouting and crying, and it was terrible; there were children as young as four years old with us.”

Niall said, “Because we had no idea what was happening or where this person was, everyone was panicking. It wasn’t a calm situation. The staff tried their best to keep us safe.

“I was thinking about my own family at the moment, and what if something happened to me and I died? I couldn’t even reach my phone because so many of us were crammed in the room.”

Fortunately, Niall and the other public members hid in a room with access to the street outside.

Niall volunteered to open the door and ensured that everything was clear. He claimed he witnessed crowds of individuals running in the same way.

The Co Clare guy even assisted two little girls who had become separated from their parents during the incident in finding them again.