A homeowner has recounted his horror after the alleged stabbing of a Sydney preacher spiralled into a chaotic riot in which cars were smashed and projectiles hurled at police.
Assyrian religious leader Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed several times by a 16-year-old boy at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on Monday.
Police arriving at the church in Sydney’s southwest shortly after quickly found themselves outnumbered by an angry mob. Several demanded the boy be handed over.
Richard Robinson, 77, who resides one street over with wife Margaret, told NCA Newswire the mob were “yelling that they wanted him (the juvenile alleged attacker) out”.
“That was concerning. But the scary part for me was when they ran down the road after the police had moved them on,” he said.
Mr Robinson said he had looked out the front window with his wife to see people allegedly jumping on a police car parked outside the home and smashing its windows.
He described chaotic scenes spilling out into the suburban street, with police cordoning off the area as members of the riot squad, dog squad and Pol Air being deployed.
A small tree outside the property was also knocked down, with Mr Robinson joining many other locals on Tuesday in sweeping up shattered glass strewn across the road.
In the 45 years he has lived at the Wakeley home, Mr Robinson said he had never experienced anything like it and that he did not recognise people in the mob as locals.
“It is something you don’t see except in America or in the movies … the amount of police that were here, it was amazing,” Mr Robinson said outside the church on Tuesday.
The long-time resident said he had been at home with his wife, who was recently released from hospital, when about 7.15pm when he heard a commotion outside the parish.
Mr Robinson said the parishioners told him Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel had been stabbed and they were unsure he was going to be OK, and that they were “getting anxious”.
“When I came back a bit later, that’s when they were throwing things and there was pepper spray … the police were walking up and down, the riot squad were getting dressed,” he said.
The couple were able to go to bed sometime around midnight, according to Mr Robinson, after helicopters had left and the large mob had dispersed into neighbouring streets.
Mr Robinson described Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel on Tuesday as seeming like a “lovely man” and humble, stating it was “just a shame that sort of thing happened to him”.
Despite the chaotic scenes only hours earlier, the 77-year-old said he was undeterred and wished to remain at his suburban southwest Sydney home of almost 50 years.
“I’ve been living here for that long and I’m established in the area. We’re happily living here. We have a walking group every couple of days per week … It is still home,” he said.
Other residents were seen sweeping away broken glass and debris from outside their homes on Tuesday as police continued their investigation of the church complex.
Specialist investigators were seen inside the compound, which remained closed to the public, collecting evidence and finger prints from cars parked inside the church grounds.
Staff attached to the church and its parish, which are based out of a neighbouring property, refused requests to talk to members of the media on Tuesday, including one cleric.
Speaking to NCA Newswire, multiple passers-by, including some attendees of the church, heaped praise on Bishop Emmanuel, who they described as “the most humble person”.
Residents from neighbouring areas, as well further flung parts of the suburb, came to see the site of the alleged stabbing on Tuesday morning, some with their children.