The Sydney police officer who shot dead the man who killed six people at a mall has been hailed as a hero for ending the killer's rampage on Saturday. Inspector Amy Scott took down the 40-year-old man who attacked nine people including a nine-month-old baby.
Videos from inside the mall, which have now gone viral on social media, show the inspector sprinting across the shopping centre, chasing the knife-wielding attacker. In one of the clips, she was seen checking on injured shoppers, even performing CPR on one of them.
Reports suggest that the officer was the only one near the attacker and single-handedly confronted and shot him dead. According to witnesses, she fired several rounds at the killer after he tried to attack her.
A photo of the officer crouching down next to the body of the killer to check if he was dead has been shared across social media.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb also praised the inspector's brave actions. "She showed enormous courage and bravery," she said.
According to eyewitnesses, the attacker was on a "killing spree" and would not have stopped if the officer did not shoot him. "If she did not shoot him, he would have kept going, he was on the rampage. He had a nice, big blade on him. He looked like he was on a killing spree," one of them said.
CCTV cameras inside the mall showed the man, wearing an Australian rugby league jersey and chasing people around the shopping centre with a large knife, leaving a trail of bodies behind.
Police did not identify the attacker but said that he was a 40-year-old man who was known to law enforcement. Police have denied that the attack was an act of terrorism, saying that the man acted alone.
Eight people were hospitalised across Sydney, including a baby. In total, the man killed five women and one man.