Key Points
- Two cars collided at a busy intersection in Engadine in south Sydney at around 9am on Sunday.
- Following the collision, a number of community members stopped to assist the people in both vehicles.
- A man armed with a box cutter, who is now in police custody, started attacking people trying to help.
Emergency services were called to an incident in Engadine in south Sydney following multiple stabbings and a two-vehicle crash.
NSW Police said multiple calls were made to triple zero after two cars collided at the intersection of Princes Highway and Old Bush Road around 9am on Sunday.
Following the collision, a number of community members stopped to assist the people in both vehicles.
As they were assisting a woman, a man got out of the vehicle armed with a box cutter and started attacking people trying to help.
The woman had sustained a number of injuries from an altercation inside the vehicle.
Police believe the driver, aged in his late 50s, began stabbing his partner while the car was wearing through traffic.
Superintendent Donald Faulds told reporters "a number of witnesses mentioned the car was driving quite erratically" before the collision.
Emergency services responded to an incident at Engadine where four people including a police officer have been injured following a crash and suspected stabbing. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
Cronulla Sharks chairman Steve Mace said he came face-to-face with the man wielding the blade after the crash happened in front of him on his way to his young son's junior football game.
He ran to the passenger's aid after hearing her screams but struggled to rip open the door to save her from the attack.
"I ... finally jammed it open and all of a sudden, I see him just slashing her," he said in a video posted by the Daily Telegraph.
"(He was) just cutting her neck, her breast ... in the sides, wherever he could go."
Images from the scene showed blood spattered across the inside of the front passenger's door, seat and across the white sedan's paintwork.
Mace described how another man, who was also trying to get the woman out of the car, ended up with a gash from his shoulder to his belly button before the knifeman left the car and made repeated attempts to attack the group.
"It was like a stand-off, which felt like an hour," Mace said.
"(He was going on about) it's a big conspiracy about the jab, and we're all getting followed, and we're all dead anyway."
The man with the blade attempted to flee after emergency services arrived at the scene but was taken into custody after being tasered by police officers.
Steve Mace said he attempted to release the female passenger from the car during the attack. Source: Supplied / AAP
Faulds said community members who tried to help were "brave" in a "frightening" situation.
Faulds said people trying to help "turned up thinking it was a normal motor vehicle accident, so they've gone to render assistance to both people and then they were faced with a male armed with a box cutter."
Police said the knifeman had no history of apprehended violence orders that they were aware of but he is known to police for other matters.
All four injured people are being treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics and the Princes Highway is closed in both directions with drivers being urged to avoid the area.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley told reporters Sunday morning an investigation is underway and there is "no threat whatsoever" to the public following the incident.
NSW Police are urging anyone with information or footage of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers.
If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
The Men’s Referral Service provides advice for men on domestic violence and can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
