A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a bishop and a father at an Orthodox Christian church in Sydney’s west.
The attack at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley sparked such tremendous outrage that by the time police arrived they were forced to bunker inside the building to protect the arrested teenager.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was giving a sermon, which was being livestreamed on the internet, when the 15-year-old approached and allegedly stabbed him multiple times just after 7pm on Monday.
Father Isaac Royel was also stabbed, police said. Both Emmanuel and Royel were taken to hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
However, Holland said an emotional crowd quickly built outside.
Police clashed with the group outside the church, with a number of officers injured and police vehicles damaged.
A constable was hit with a metal object and suffered a twisted knee and a chipped tooth. Another constable sustained a broken jaw after he was hit with a brick and a fence paling.
It took hours for the police to get the situation under control, Holland said.
Footage from the scene showed capsicum spray being used at one stage to try to disperse the crowd. It also appeared that police at one point used a ladder to break down a door in order to reach ambulance workers who were sheltering behind it.
By the time it was deemed safe enough to remove the teenager from the church, police whisked him away to an undisclosed location for his own safety, Holland said.
It comes just days after six people were stabbed to death in Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.
There is no indication the two events are linked.
