A bishop who was stabbed during a church service in Sydney performed a brave act moments after a knifeman attacked him.
Just two days after the Australian city was rocked by a mass stabbing in a busy shopping mall, another shocking incident took place at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday evening (April 25).
Distressing footage shared online reveals Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, a senior figure in the ultra-conservative Assyrian Orthodox Church, presiding over a service that was being live-streamed.
The alleged attacker, who was dressed in all-black, was seen charging toward Emmanuel before suddenly stabbing him several times to the head and upper body at the altar. Parishioners attempted to intervene while screams could be heard in the church.
New South Wales police confirmed that members of the public restrained the suspect at the scene while waiting for cops to arrive.
As reported by CNN, the knifeman was later identified as an unnamed 16-year-old boy, who was taken to the hospital under custody and received surgery for injuries sustained during the attack. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb revealed that the suspect was "known to police," but was not on any terror watch list.
"Reports are that he has injuries to his hands. I don’t know the extent of those injuries at this point," Commissioner Andrew Holland said, per The Telegraph. "His injuries are quite severe to his hand. He’s fairly upset and fairly distraught."
At least three people suffered knife injuries in the melee that followed. None of the injuries were life-threatening, authorities confirmed.
The Wakeley neighborhood is a hub for Sydney's small Christian Assyrian community, many of whom have fled persecution and war in Iraq and Syria.
Emmanuel was ordained a priest in 2009 and made a bishop in 2011. He is a prominent leader in that community and a popular figure on social media, with videos of his sermons amassing millions of views on various social media platforms.
Councillor Steve Christou from the Cumberland City Council revealed that the bishop prayed for his alleged attacker after he suffered horrific wounds.
"It just shows the remarkable courage of a man and forgiveness he has within him to pray for his alleged attacker," he told Channel Seven's Matt Doran, as cited by the Daily Mail.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb spoke to reporters about the terrible incident and disclosed that authorities believe the attack was premeditated.
"We will allege [the suspect] attended that church armed with a knife and stabbed the bishop and priest… We believe there are elements that are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism," she said.
After the attack, an enraged mob of around 2000 people swarmed near the church with riots breaking out and police struggling to maintain order. Two officers were injured, one with a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and fence palings, and 10 police cars were destroyed.
Webb, the police commissioner, condemned the "uncontrolled" crowd, describing their conduct as "totally unacceptable," and adding: "People converged on that area and began to turn on police.
"People used what was available to them in the area, including bricks, concrete, palings, to assault police and throw missiles at police, and police equipment, and police vehicles," Webb said.
Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan interjected that paramedics and police were forced to retreat inside the church, where they were holed up for three and a half hours as the public rioted outside.
"This was a rapidly evolving situation where the crowds went from 50 to hundreds of people in a very rapid period of time. Our paramedics became directly under threat," he said. "Six of our paramedics could not leave that facility for fear of their own safety. I echo the words of the police commissioner. This is outrageous."
NSW police believe the alleged teenage knifeman was acting alone but stressed that the investigation is in its preliminary stages.
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident.
