Sydney stabbings as it happened: Wakeley church attack declared terrorist event just days after Bondi Junction tragedy; PM, AFP call for calm

It’s been another day of harrowing news in Sydney, with the Wakeley stabbings overnight and the continued fallout from the Bondi Junction stabbings on Saturday.

To conclude today’s live coverage, here’s a summary of what we covered.

Firstly, this is what we learnt about the Wakeley church terrorist attack:

• Police determined the stabbing of a bishop and parish priest at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley was a terrorist attack that was “religiously or ideologically” motivated.
• Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and parish priest Father Daniel Kochou were named as the victims of the church attack, that was followed by a tense stand-off between worshippers and police on the street outside.
• It was revealed the teenager who was arrested for allegedly stabbing the two church leaders was given a good behaviour bond in January for two offences, and once brought a knife to school. The teen had at least one of his fingers severed in the commission of the attack.
• The government has given social media platforms 24 hours to remove content showing Monday night’s church stabbing.
• Lakemba Mosque will have extra security for the coming week, after firebomb threats were made on Monday night.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both condemned the church stabbing and the treatment of emergency service workers that attended the scene on Monday night, as religious leaders of all faiths call for peace.
• NSW Premier Chris Minns says he is open to strengthening the state’s knife laws after the series of stabbing incidents in Sydney.

Secondly, these were the developments in the Bondi Junction stabbings.

• The nine-month-old daughter of Ashlee Good was released from the Intensive Care Unit in a stable condition.
• Six patients who were injured during the stabbings have been discharged from hospital, while six others are still being treated.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered a permanent visa to the French construction worker who was dubbed ‘bollard man’ for his heroic efforts to stop the Bondi Junction attacker using a bollard.

The calm outside Christ The Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Tuesday night was a world away from the violence that engulfed it less than 24 hours prior.

Flowers lay in tribute to the injured, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and Father Daniel Kochou, and candles lined the gates of the church.

It remains a crime scene with detectives continuing their investigations into the night and police forensics were seen taking fingerprints.

Police are investigating the stabbing attack captured on livestream as well as the riot that erupted outside the church after the stabbing.

A small number of parishioners, who did not want to talk to media in the afternoon, watched on from the properties opposite the church.

Meta says it is working with law enforcement to enact the Austrlians government notice to remove videos and photos depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence” from the terrorist attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Monday night.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, says the company “have taken steps to prevent possible copies of the incident being re-shared”.

“Our priority is to protect people using our services from seeing this horrific content even if bad actors are determined to call attention to it,” the spokesperson said.

The stabbing attack was livestreamed by the Christ The Good Shepherd Church on YouTube, as a part of its regular broadcasts of church services.

The government’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Facebook’s parent company Meta and X (formerly Twitter) have 24 hours to remove content showing Monday night’s church stabbing.

The government has issued notices to the social media giants to remove videos and photos depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence” from the terrorist attack at Christ The Good Shepherd Church at Wakeley on Monday night.

“We expect them to remove this expeditiously within the next 24 hours,” Inman Grant said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

“We know that every minute counts. The more this content is up there, the more it is reshared, the more velocity and virality continues. And we need to stem that.”

The commissioner said the companies might face fines if they did not comply, and that she had other social platforms in her sights.

The alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel by a 16-year-old assailant was captured on livestream.