Bystanders used chairs, milk crate to hold Sydney stabbing suspect

Civilians stopped a knife-wielding man on a busy street in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, pinning the suspect to the ground with chairs and a milk crate until police arrived, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Video captured at the scene shows a blood-spattered man holding a knife in the air and climbing on top of a Mercedes Benz, appearing to shout “Allahu akbar.”

Another man carrying a wooden chair approaches and soon a group of bystanders chase the suspect down and subdue him.{mosads}

The scene lasted approximately six minutes, but New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said it “would have been terrifying carnage.” 

“They were significantly brave people,” New South Wales Police Superintendent Gavin Wood told reporters. “To approach a person with a mindset of obviously what this person did, with clear evidence of a stabbing previously, these people are heroes.”

Three of the men who helped apprehend the attacker are reportedly from the United Kingdom and have found a “new home” in Australia.

Lee Cuthbert and his friends Paul and Luke O’Shaughnessy told the Sydney newspaper that they were shaken up after the incident but did not hesitate to approach the man.

“Me, Paul and Luke, we’ve adopted Australia as our new home and you hear about this happening all over, especially the U.K., and you think coming to Australia you’re really safe and you feel like you’ve kind of got away from it.”

They were reportedly aided by another man, Alex Roberts, from Cronulla.

Just witnessed incredible bravery from members of the public and ⁦@FRNSW⁩ officers chasing down a man on a stabbing rampage in Sydney’s CBD. He is now under arrest. ⁦@7NewsSydney⁩ pic.twitter.com/wNKatejHVp

— Andrew Denney (@Andrew_Denney) August 12, 2019

The suspect was identified by police as 21-year-old Mert Ney, according to the Morning Herald.

Police allege Ney fatally stabbed 24-year-old Michaela Dunn before running down several streets and stabbing another woman in the back at a nearby hotel. That 41-year-old woman was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, the newspaper reported.

Investigators are working to determine whether the two attacks were linked but said the incidents appeared “unprovoked.”

Officials acknowledged the suspect was found to have a phone and USB stick containing files related to recent mass killings including the shooting at two New Zealand mosques, but said the event is not considered a terrorist event.

Ney has a history of mental health issues, the Morning Herald reported.