Sydney stabbings live updates: Wakeley church leader, worshippers ...

The stabbing of a bishop and parish priest at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church was a terrorist attack, police say.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she determined the stabbing was a terrorist incident after “consideration of all the material”.

Webb also warned those angry community members who turned on police after the stabbings that they can “expect a knock on the door”.

“It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow, but we will find you and we will come and arrest you,” Webb said.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb and Premier Chris Minns at the press conference in Surry Hills.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Premier Chris Minns has some strong words for those involved in the riot after the alleged terrorist attack.

As social media swirls with speculation regarding the alleged attacker’s motivation, Minns implored the community to stay united.

“There is no such thing in Australia in taking the law into your own hands. It doesn’t exist,” he said.

“You will be met by the full force of the law if there’s any attempt of tit-for-tat violence in Sydney over the coming days.”

Chris Minns speaks outside Surry Hills Police Centre. Credit: Louise Kennerley

Minns said those who engage in tit-for-tat violence would only take away resources from the terror investigation.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said those who turned against police officers after the attack can expect to be found and prosecuted.

“Police officers were doing their job and they were attacked. That’s the simplest I can put it,” she said.

NSW Ambulance treated 30 patients over the course of the more than three hours after the attack, including 20 who were impacted by capsicum spray during the riot, Commissioner Dr Dominic Morgan said.

“Our paramedics became directly under threat and were supported by police, and had to retreat into the church … this is outrageous,” he said.

The teenager who allegedly stabbed two church leaders in what police say is a terrorist attack had his own fingers severed in the chaos.

An image captured in the wake of the incident shows four fingers on the attacker’s left hands have been cut off.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said it is still unclear whether the fingers were cut off by the crowd after the attack, or whether they were accidently severed during the melee that followed.

Police, however, have confirmed the alleged attacker did undergo surgery in the hours after he was apprehended.

The stabbing of a bishop and parish priest at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church was a terrorist attack, police say.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she determined the stabbing was a terrorist incident after “consideration of all the material”.

Webb also warned those angry community members who turned on police after the stabbings that they can “expect a knock on the door”.

“It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow, but we will find you and we will come and arrest you,” Webb said.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb and Premier Chris Minns at the press conference in Surry Hills.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Premier Chris Minns and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb gave an update on the stabbing at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church at 8am.

You can watch the press conference below.

The Australian National Imams Council has condemned the attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s western suburbs and expressed its sympathy for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel after he was taken to hospital on Monday night.

“These attacks are horrifying and have no place in Australia, particularly at places of worship and toward religious leaders,” the peak group of Islamic faith leaders said.

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“Our thoughts and prayers are with Bishop Emmanuel and the victims and we pray for their speedy recovery. We urge the community to stay calm and work together towards the safety and the security of all Australians.”

With religious tensions stretched as crowds gathered on Monday night, the Grand Mufti of Australia also issued a statement shortly before midnight to urge community calm.

“We reject violence in all its form,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Riad Al-Rifai said in a statement with Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Dr Rateb Jneid.

“We are calling on our communities to extend our message of care and compassion to all. We have trust in our first responders and confidence in their work. We’re calling on everyone to act with kindness and respect for each other. Now is the time to show we are strong and united as a NSW community.”

The teenager who allegedly stabbed a bishop and priest at a Wakeley church on Monday night has himself undergone surgery.

Police confirmed on Tuesday morning the 15-year-old underwent surgery for injuries he sustained during the alleged stabbing attack.

He is under police guard in hospital. No charges have been laid.

Strike Force Petrina will investigate the alleged stabbing while Strike Force Dribs will investigate the near-riot that exploded after the attack.

A main objective of Strike Force Dribs is to identify those involved when projectiles were thrown at police, injuring two officers and damaging police cars, as officers tried to disperse the angry crowd.

One constable was hit with a metal object and sustained a twisted knee and a chipped tooth. Another constable was left with a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and a fence paling.

The Christ the Good Shepherd Church has identified parish priest Father Isaac Royel as another victim of the stabbing attack at the Wakeley church on Monday night.

In a statement, parish priest Father Daniel Kochou, secretary to stabbing victim Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, confirmed his fellow church leader Royel was also targeted in the attack.

“As our live-stream shows, the [alleged] attacker approached the lectern with a concealed knife then lunged forth to deliver multiple blows [to Emmanuel]; to the head, then several to the body,” Kochou said.

“The man also made another attempt on one of our parish priests, Father Isaac Royel, who is also receiving treatment for injuries sustained. No one else in the church suffered injury though the [alleged] attacker was quickly apprehended by faithful sitting nearby, and has been detained by police who now have him in custody.”

Kochou urged the community to remain calm and not descend into “vengeance” and to “keep peace with one another and your neighbour”.

“The church denounces retaliation of any kind,” Kochou said.

Father Isaac Royel was injured in the Wakeley Christ the Good Shepherd stabbing.

Bishop Mari Mari Emmanuel was stabbed and several in his congregation injured in an attack during a livestreamed sermon on Monday night.

Emmanuel is a prominent leader of an ultra-conservative sect of the Assyrian Orthodox. He became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic for being critical of lockdowns and vaccines.

Often livestreaming his services on YouTube and social media where he has hundreds of thousands of followers, he preached fire and brimstone and drew in radical Christians for his anti-LGBTQ sermons.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.

Other viral livestreams of his feature hardline views about American and Russian politics, as well as claiming Satan founded the United Nations.

Speaking on Joe Biden’s US election win in one of his sermons posted to TikTok, Emmanuel said: “100 per cent it was rigged by the secret societies”.

He was ordained a priest in 2009 and a bishop in 2011.

According to Christ The Good Shepherd Church’s website, Emmanuel travelled internationally for his bible teachings, including to Arizona in the US in December.

Emmanuel’s pastoral message on the website reads: “In our time and age, we believe the most important and fundamental insight is coming into the truth. The world bombards the human race with so much information, quite often we lose our orientation in discerning the lie from the truth.”

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