Police revealed the details of the alleged attacker, who is a 15-year-old boy known to police and not a regular attendee of the western Sydney church.
Heavily armed police rushed to the Good Shepherd Church, where four people were allegedly stabbed just days after the horrific knife attack in Bondi left seven people dead — including the killer.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was in the middle of delivering mass to the church in Wakeley, in Sydney’s west, on Monday night when a man dressed in black approached the preacher and allegedly began stabbing him in his face and body.
The sermon was being live-streamed to YouTube with a shocking video showing the moment the Assyrian preacher was allegedly attacked at about 7pm local time.
New South Wales police called a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday morning, during which acting assistant commissioner Andrew Holland issued an update on the confronting incident.
When police arrived, the alleged attacker, now identified to be a 15-year-old boy, had been apprehended by worshippers at the church.
The teenager was arrested and detained inside the church until it was safe to remove him, as thousands of protestors began to riot outside.
The boy was later taken to an undisclosed hospital, where he is receiving treatment for severe hand injuries.
He is known to police and has asked to speak to his parents with that request underway.
Mr Holland said, “A number of clergy members had been attacked”.
During the riot that spilled out of control outside the church, two police officers were seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Mr Holland also issued a plea to the community in an attempt to keep the peace in the aftermath of the chaos.
“We’ve spoken to community leaders and members of the community to speak to their local people to try and keep people calm. The main thing is that again, do not take situations into your own hands, and police will deal with the situation,” he told reporters.
He said several houses had also been broken into when rioters went in search of weapons.
“A number of houses have been damaged, (people have) broken into a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at the police. They’ve thrown weapons and items at the church itself. It was obviously people who wanted to get access to the young person,” he said.
“But again, there are a lot more good people in the community than bad people.
“We most definitely need to condemn violence in the community. Use of knives in the communities is a problem for New South Wales at the moment across all forms of areas.”
Police will continue to monitor places of worship throughout the Sydney metro area during the night.
Blood-curdling screams from parishioners could be heard before the live stream was dramatically cut.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the church following reports of the attack, with some chanting “Bring him out” in relation to the man who allegedly launched the attack.
Police confirmed that a man was arrested at the scene and were assisting with inquiries.
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Following the alleged attack, violence spilled out onto the streets, with responding officers forced to deploy capsicum spray to subdue the crowd.
At least one officer was injured and taken to hospital with a bandage on his head and blood on his chest.
The window of a police car was also smashed by a group of people gathered outside the church.
More than 150 police officers were called to the scene, including officers from the riot squad, the tactical response group and NSW Police’s anti-bikie Raptor Squad.
NSW Ambulance confirmed four people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The preacher, aged in his 50s, was taken to Liverpool Hospital with multiple stab wounds. Three other people were also injured — a man aged in his 30s suffered multiple lacerations, a man in his 20s received a cut to his hand, and a man in his 60s was wounded to his arm.
Bishop Mar Mari is a well-respected member of the Western Sydney community.
The church released a statement following the horrific attack.
“Dear brothers and sisters, Our beloved Bishop, his grace, Mar Mari, and Father Isaac have been admitted to the hospital; they are in stable condition. We ask for your prayers at this time,” it read.
“It is the Bishop’s and father’s wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator.
“We also kindly ask anyone at the church’s premises to leave in peace, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ teaches us. Thank you.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns has urged the community to “remain calm” as police try to control the incident.
“Disturbing scenes in Wakeley tonight,” he wrote on X.
“I have received a briefing from the Commissioner of Police and NSW Health on the situation.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and first responders who are working to keep us safe.
“We are a strong community in NSW, and it’s important that we all stick together, particularly in the face of adversity.”
Fowler MP Dai Le said she was “praying for Bishop Mar Mari’s safe and speedy recovery”.
“He is a wonderful bishop, and I have seen his work and his love for his community and congregation,” Ms Le said.
“We are all shocked, but we have faith in our multi-faith and multicultural community to get through this together.”
The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) and the Australian Muslim community unequivocally condemned the attack.
“These attacks are horrifying and have no place in Australia, particularly at places of worship and toward religious leaders,” they said.
“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 to ensure the safety and security of all Australians.”
Bishop Mar Mari made a name for himself during the COVID pandemic when he slammed the lockdowns and vaccination mandates.
In a 2021 sermon, he said, “Are we humans? Because we are being treated like animals.”
“They are encouraging people to go and take the vaccine and stay at home. They have had enough.”