The crime scene at Westfield Hornsby where people were injured when officers opened fire on a man with a knife. Credit:Janie Barrett Police could not confirm witness accounts that the man had lunged at police with a knife before officers opened fire on him. Witnesses claimed the man had been screaming and shouting at the officers, before they shot him in the stomach. Two women and an elderly man were also injured, witnesses said. Police later confirmed all of the victims were women, aged between 60 and 80. They are believed to have been bystanders and suffered gunshot wounds to their legs, possibly after bullets ricocheted.

A blood-soaked chair at the Brasserie Bread stand at Westfield Hornsby, where people were injured after police opened fire on a man with a knife. Credit:Janie Barrett A NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics were called to Florence Street just before midday on Thursday. Four people were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital under police escort. It is believed two of the three bystanders, women aged 82 and 65, are in a stable condition in hospital. Police at the Hornsby Organic Food Market at Westfield Hornsby where people were injured after officers opened fire on a man with a knife.. Credit:Seven News The Hornsby Organic Food Market was being held outdoors at the shopping centre at the time of the shooting, and many shoppers were gathered around stalls that had been set up around the fountain.

Footage posted on social media showed a person lying on the ground next to the shopping centre's fountain, as police stand around him with their weapons drawn. The scene of the shooting at the Hornsby Organic Food Market at Westfield Hornsby where people were injured after officers opened fire on a man with a knife. Credit:Channel Seven The shooting took place between the shopping centre's fountain and James Yeom's Gelatissimo shop. In the minutes before the shooting, Mr Yeom called police after he saw a man walking around with a knife. He said the man was not wearing shoes and appeared to be affected by alcohol. The scene of the shooting at the Hornsby Organic Food Market at Westfield Hornsby where people were injured after officers opened fire on a man with a knife. Credit:Sky News

"He didn't look aggressive, he was slowly moving around, but it didn't look right," said Mr Yeom, who was just metres away from the man. "[He] looked a little bit drunken ... didn't seem normal and that's why I called the police, because he was holding a knife." Mr Yeom said the man was "running around but not running away" when confronted by the police, but he couldn't see clearly because he was hiding behind a market stall. "I don't know whether he was trying to escape or being hostile, but he was running around," he said.

"He wasn't making much noise, he wasn't saying anything, it was really weird." Mr Yeom said he saw the officers fire three shots. "There were some casualties. There were two shots, tried to shoot him in the first place because he refused to drop the knife and became very hostile. They didn't get him," he said. "Then they got him on the third shot. Injured, I don't think he's been killed. Around the middle of his body, but he didn't look too critical." He said he saw three people injured, but police later confirmed that four people had been taken to hospital.

Mr Yeom said among those injured were the offender, one woman and he believed one man. "The lady was about five to 10 metres away from the guy holding the knife. The other person who went down, maybe 10 to 15 metres away from the guy," he said. Adam Stratton, a butcher whose shop is about 30 metres away from the shooting scene, told Channel Nine he heard three loud bangs before people started running into his shop and into the mall. He locked the shop's door, fearing a gunman may have been in the mall. When he went outside, he could see four people lying on the ground bleeding.

"It was just like, what the hell is going on?" Mr Stratton said. "It's just chaos down here at the moment. "I saw four people down with blood streaming out of them." He said one of those injured people was the alleged offender. Helen Wong, from the Pho Ngon Restaurant, said she could see bodies on the ground.



Silvia Philip, who had a bakery stall at the markets, said the shooting was terrifying.



"I've got a young assistant here and I just said, 'Get down, stay here,' " Ms Philip said.

"Within minutes police pulled up and three officers, two men and one woman, just ran up there towards the clock tower. "The first thing I heard was the shots ... it was very disturbing, terrifying." Police said a Critical Incident Team would now investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. "At this stage it is not known what has caused the confrontation," police said in a statement. "That investigation will be subject to independent review.

"No further details are available at this time, however police are calling for witnesses to come forward. "Police are not looking for any other offenders." Westfield Hornsby confirmed it was still trading after the shooting. "For now the centre is still trading, however police have cordoned off the incident area. We will provide updates as we receive additional information," the centre said.



Thursday's shooting comes less than three months after a fatal stabbing at a restaurant at the same shopping centre. At the time, terrified diners told how a man walked into a restaurant and stabbed a man to death and wounded a woman, before calmly walking outside covered in the couple's blood.

With AAP More to come.