Irish hero helps take down knife-wielding madman

An Irishman has been hailed a hero after he helped tackle a raging madman wielding a knife in the streets of Sydney.

Shane Donaghey was one of small number of civilians who managed to take down the crazed killer and subdue him until police arrived.

The knife-wielding man had already stabbed a 41-year-old woman on the street, and had tried to attack other people.

The body of a 21-year-old woman was later found at a nearby building.

The crazed attacker was leaping onto cars and screaming at the terrified crowd to “shoot me in the f***ing head.”

Shane Donaghey was one of the members of the public who tackled the man to the ground. He said he was in no doubt that more people would have been injured had the man not been stopped.

Donaghey said: “It was crazy stuff. I just heard this commotion and this guy was running down the street with a knife. His hands were covered in blood.

“I just started running and I soon caught up with him.

“We managed to get on top of him and others used pieces of makeshift furniture to keep him pinned down until the police arrived.

“He was crazy. He was trying to bite us and all but we managed to keep him pinned down.”

The knifeman was reportedly heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is [the] greatest”).

However, Australian police do not believe he was acting for any terrorist groups and the attack was not being treated as terrorism.

Donaghey was born in Ireland but moved to Australia with his family in 1988. He suffered only minor injuries in the incident.

A passerby recorded part of the frightening ordeal with his mobile phone. Please be aware, the video contains footgae that some viewers may find upsetting.

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