World News

Hooded assailant seen stabbing bishop in horrific video ID’d as 15-year-old boy

By
Social Links for Melissa Koenig
Published April 15, 2024, 1:31 p.m. ET

WARNING: Graphic Content

The black-hoodie-wearing assailant who was caught on camera stabbing a TikTok-famous Australian bishop and smiling in a Monday attack is a 15-year-old boy, police said.

New South Wales police have announced that the boy was known to police and was not a regular attendee of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church, News.com.au reports.

He was apprehended by parishioners and was brought to an “undisclosed location,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said.

The assailant who was caught on camera stabbing a Australian bishop is a 15-year-old boy, police said.
The assailant who was caught on camera stabbing a Australian bishop is a 15-year-old boy, police said.
New South Wales police said the boy was known to police and was not a regular attendee of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church.
New South Wales police said the boy was known to police and was not a regular attendee of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church.

Holland also noted that the boy, who has not yet been identified, has asked to speak to his parents — and police are working to honor that request.

In the meantime, the teenager is being treated for severe hand injuries amid rumors that the boy had his finger cut off in an act of revenge following the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Assyrian Orthodox Church where he was delivering a sermon Monday night.

“His injuries are quite severe in his hand,” Holland said, adding that the boy is “fairly upset and fairly distraught.”

The teenager was caught on camera approaching the bishop and stabbing him multiple times in his face and neck.

Emmanuel was promptly rushed to the hospital, where his church said he is in stable condition.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was delivering a sermon at the Assyrian Orthodox Church Monday night during the attack.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was delivering a sermon at the Assyrian Orthodox Church Monday night during the attack. Facebook / Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel
The teenager was caught on camera approaching the bishop and stabbing him multiple times in his face and neck.
The teenager was caught on camera approaching the bishop and stabbing him multiple times in his face and neck.

Father Isaac Rayel was also among the injured, as were at least two other congregants, according to News.com.au.

A motive for the stabbing is currently unknown, but the suspect reportedly told congregants at the scene Emmanuel “was getting involved in my religion so I came to get involved in his,” a politician posted online.

The brutal scene quickly dissolved into chaos, as thousands rioted in the streets while they waited for the suspect to be marched out of the church.

A motive for the stabbing is currently unknown according to police.
A motive for the stabbing is currently unknown according to police.
In the meantime, the teenager is being treated for severe hand injuries amid rumors that the boy had his finger cut off in an act of revenge.
In the meantime, the teenager is being treated for severe hand injuries amid rumors that the boy had his finger cut off in an act of revenge.

“Bring him out, bring him out,” the angry mob could be heard shouting in a video posted to social media.

Other footage showed a large crowd rioting at the scene and apparently damaging local property, with dozens of people bashing in an ambulance window, according to News.com.au.

Police at the scene ultimately had to deploy tear gas to disperse the crowd outside the church, after a perimeter they set up was breached by rioters, according to The Telegraph.

Holland said police are now “working on restoring order,” and would continue to monitor places of worship throughout the night.