Sydney’s CBD came to a standstill at around 2PM this afternoon, when a man wielding a knife murdered one woman and stabbed another in a terrifying attack.

The man, armed with a butcher’s knife and carrying “information about terrorist attacks and extremist ideologies on a USB drive”, was eventually apprehended after some heroic intervention by civilians in the area.

Police have now taken the 21-year-old into custody, identified as Mert Ney, with the Guardian reporting below:

[He] jumped on cars and yelled at bystanders to “shoot me in the fucking head” before being restrained by members of the public – later lauded as “heroes” by police – who used cafe chairs and a milk crate to pin him down.

About an hour after the man’s arrest, the body of a 21-year-old woman was found inside an apartment in Clarence Street, in central Sydney. It is understood she had suffered multiple stab wounds.

Police say the man was arrested carrying a USB drive containing documents espousing “terrorist ideologies” and detailing mass casualty crimes, including recent attacks in North America and New Zealand, but he did not have any known links to terror groups, and acted alone.

The man has a history of mental health problems. It has been reported that he had escaped from a mental health facility in recent days, but this has not been confirmed.

The 41-year-old woman Ney stabbed is at St Vincent’s Hospital, with a spokesperson saying she was responding well, but is likely to remain in the hospital for 48 hours.

You only need to look at the footage to see that Ney was clearly suffering from mental health problems:

Here’s further footage of the chase that led to Ney being taken down:

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 13, 2019

On the ground next to Ney, Paul Walker, a Channel Seven cameraman who was on the scene, filmed a bottle of pills labelled Antenex:

The drug is a diazepam which is used to treat anxiety and depression. Seven was reporting that the man had absconded from a mental health facility some days before.

Walker said the man with the chair, whom he identified as a bank worker, had used the chair “like a lion tamer”, trying to turn the man around as he ran through the city streets.

Recounting the moment they took Ney down, Paul O’Shaughnessy spoke about how his brother, Luke, and their colleague Lee Cuthbert raced through the streets:

Ultimately, the actions of these members of public may have prevented further loss of life.

Sydney civilians can just be glad that Ney was armed only with a butcher’s knife, rather than a semi-automatic weapon.

[sources:guardian&newsau]