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Brothers Luke (L) and Paul (R) O’Shaughnessy were alerted to the stabbing by a “massive scream”
Two British brothers who helped to restrain a knifeman in central Sydney have described their “scary” confrontation with the blood-soaked suspect.
Luke O’Shaughnessy, 30, and Paul, 37, have been hailed as heroes after they pinned down the attacker.
The armed man stabbed a woman in the street and has been linked to a second woman’s body found nearby.
Luke and Paul said a “massive scream” alerted them to the street attack.
Both men, from Bury, Greater Manchester, were working in an office in the Australian city when they heard screams at 14:00 local time (04:00 BST).
‘Kind of scary’
Luke, a professional Thai kick boxer, told the BBC: “I was sat at my desk and heard a massive scream outside.
“I saw a man wielding a knife covered in blood jumping on top of a car.
“I saw an old man going at him with a chair. I said to Paul: ‘Let’s go – there’s a knifeman’.”
Luke said he arrived to find four men on top of the suspect and helped to pin him down with a chair and a crate.
He said: “We made sure we got round and didn’t move. The knife was right beside him.
“It was scary – I didn’t know whether he had a gun or a vest.
“I was worried. It was kind of scary but I had my brother around me so I had to protect him.
“I had to stop him doing anything else.”
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Paul, a former midfielder with Bury FC, said: “I didn’t even think about it.
“I just thought ‘is my brother going to be OK?’ as we ran towards him.”
The injured woman, 41, remains in a stable condition in hospital.
Australian police are continuing to quiz the suspect, and commissioner Mick Fuller told a press conference the stabbing was not currently being classed as a terrorist incident.
It is believed the suspect had a USB drive containing details of mass killings in New Zealand and the United States.
