Multiple people were stabbed, and one man was shot, at a crowded retail center in Sydney on Saturday, according to Australian authorities.
According to a statement sent to CNN by New South Wales Police, the incident occurred inside Westfield Bondi Junction.
Officers said they were summoned to the scene after reports of many people being stabbed, and they encouraged people to avoid the area.
The New South Wales Ambulance (NSW) service confirmed to CNN that eight patients, including one child, had been evacuated to hospitals in Sydney. They refused to say whether the injured victims were men or women or what their current conditions were.
Social media videos show consumers fleeing the retail mall by several exits, as police helicopters can be heard overhead.
The police will not say whether they shot a suspect or if the incident was linked to terrorism.
“Inquiries are continuing in relation to the incident and there are no further details,” the statement went on to say.
An eyewitness told CNN’s Australian network, 9 News Sydney, that people were running through the shopping center and colliding with one another, characterizing the scenario as “pandemonium.”
According to Channel 9, people began rushing and shouting: “Do not go down, there has been a stabbing, there has been a stabbing.”
The news site also broadcast live footage of patients being loaded into ambulances and treated on the scene.
More updates are coming shortly.
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