Witness says first reponders arrived ‘within minutes’

Brendan Blomeley was with his two children inside the Westfield when he heard two shots.

“Adrenaline kicked in quickly,” he told ABC. “It was just one of those situations you wouldn’t wish upon anybody.”

Blomeley said police and paramedics arrived “within minutes” and went “above and beyond”.

“It was frightening, it was harrowing … We were cowering in a store with hundreds of other people.”

Police press conference expected at 5:45pm

We’re expecting police to front a press conference to provide more information at 5:45PM, so in about 25 minutes.

At least four believed dead after Bondi stabbings

Tamsin Rose

Attacker had ‘big blade’, witness tells 9 News

Jason, a shopper evacuated from the centre, told 9 News he saw the alleged attacker with a “nice big blade”.

“Everyone started running toward the end of the building,” he said.

Jason said he later witnessed police shoot the alleged attacker.

“She shot him,” he said. “When the copper shot him she was giving him CPR.”

Channel 9 report infant taken to hospital for treatment

More on that earlier post reporting an infant had been stabbed.

Channel 9 have reported a nine month old baby has been taken to hospital where they are being treated.

Reports people still shielding inside Bondi Junction shops

I’m hearing from people still at the scene in Bondi Junction that there are still shoppers shielding inside some floors of the David Jones department store.

That’s as responders continue to sweep the area.

So far we have heard police believed there was just one alleged attacker.

‘My instinct was to put customers inside and close the shop’

We’re hearing stories that as soon as the alarm was raised about the incident, shoppers hid in stores as they shut their doors for protection.

An employee of the Harris Farm supermarket inside the centre said his “reaction was to put all the customers” inside.

“My instinct was to put customers inside and close the shop,” he said.

At about 4:45pm, TV crews reporting live from the streets captured the moment when shoppers who had been sheltering inside the Apple Store – which is on street level and has direct access onto Oxford Street – finally exited.

Guardian Australia’s Nikki Marshall was inside David Jones on level four of the shopping centre when she said she became aware of the incident at about 3:35pm.

“Suddenly a woman said there’s a stabbing, we’ve got to go.”

“I fled for a cupboard, and then I found a fire escape. As we were coming down the escalators, that’s when the security alarm started sounding.”

Witnesses say mother and baby among stabbing victims

People moving through the streets of Bondi Junction have reported that a mother and baby are among the stabbing victims.

One man, interviewed by 9 News, claimed fellow shoppers tried to help a mother and her baby who had been stabbed.

The man said he held the baby as he and others tried to compress the wound.

He said others tried attending to the mother, who had more significant bleeding.

Vision from TV helicopters shows teams of heavily armed police tactical response officers making their way across the rooftop of one of the buildings in Bondi.

TV crews broadcasting live from the streets surrounding the Westfield shopping centre are speaking with shoppers who have been fleeing the centre.

One man being interviewed now reports seeing a body covered in blood.

He was speaking next to a woman who had just run out of the centre after hiding inside a shop after hearing gunshots.

“We heard the shots, we’re all just processing,” she told 9 News.

Police release statement, confirm man shot

Breaking news – incident at Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre