You make do with what you have, and these four Australian men made the most of the tools at their disposal. They subdued and detained a lunatic with a knife on the streets of Sydney, but unfortunately not before one woman was killed and another seriously wounded:

A knife-wielding man went on a stabbing spree on the streets of Sydney, Australia before being restrained by a group of innocent bystanders. @billneelynbc has the latest. pic.twitter.com/hZFNdjHlkD — TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 13, 2019

The four men knew something was about to happen even before it began, and took steps to contain the situation as best they could:

The Prime Minister and the NSW Police Minister have praised bystanders who put themselves at risk by tackling a man armed with a knife in central Sydney and holding him down until police arrived. Armed with nothing more than chairs, a milk crate and crowbar, several men chased the man as he ran up Clarence Street and jumped on the bonnet and roof of a car. Four of those men — Paul O’Shaughnessy, Luke O’Shaughnessy, Lee Cuthbert and Alex Roberts — said they instinctively sprung into action when they saw the commotion below the York Street recruitment office where they work. … The man was allegedly waving a large knife and then jumped back down from the car roof and into the middle of the road, shouting as his pursuers continued to close in. They eventually knocked him down with a cafe chair, and then used a milk crate to hold his head to the footpath as first firefighters then police arrived to restrain him.

The suspect turns out to be a mental-health patient who had just recently left a hospital. Police at the moment aren’t treating it as a terrorist incident, but they’re leaving the possibility open:

A knife-wielding man with a history of mental illness who is suspected of killing one woman and stabbing another in Sydney, Australia was stopped when members of the public were able to pin him on his back using a milk crate, authorities said. The man is believed to be responsible for the slaying a woman in a downtown Sydney apartment before wounding another woman nearby and attempting to stab other people Tuesday. Police and witnesses say they heard the suspect yelling “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Police have not labeled the rampage an act of terrorism, although the 21-year-old assailant — who was restrained by members of the public before being arrested — had collected information on his computer about mass killings in North America and New Zealand, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Michael Fuller said. “It is not currently classed as a terrorist incident. Obviously, as the investigation continues we will reassess that,” Fuller told reporters.

Here’s more footage from the attack and the capture. The audio’s a little clearer on this one, in which the suspect shouts “Shoot me in the [expletive] head” and “I want to die.” The four men didn’t grant either wish, but they do offer some colorful commentary on what they witnessed at the end:

Just witnessed incredible bravery from members of the public and ⁦@FRNSW⁩ officers chasing down a man on a stabbing rampage in Sydney’s CBD. He is now under arrest. ⁦@7NewsSydney⁩ pic.twitter.com/wNKatejHVp — Andrew Denney (@Andrew_Denney) August 13, 2019

This looks less like a terrorist incident than an attempted murder-suicide by cop plot. The radical-Islamist chant might have been a tactic designed to get police to open fire, a tactic thwarted by the four sharp-thinking men in Sydney. The police are assigning this to their homicide bureau rather than counter-terrorism, which indicates that they’re thinking the same thing.

Kudos to these Sydney men. They not only saved lives, but they made sure this lunatic will get what’s coming to him … we hope.