A paramedic has died after he was repeatedly stabbed in the abdomen outside a fast food restaurant, with the knifeman believed to have opened up the back of his ambulance and attacked him while he finished his paperwork.
The NSW Ambulance worker, 29, pulled into the restaurant carpark to grab coffee with a colleague when he was attacked outside a McDonald’s outlet on Queen Street at Campbelltown, south-west Sydney, about 5.30am on Friday.
He was treated at the scene and taken to Liverpool Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Police tasered a 21-year-old suspected knifeman at the scene, arrested him and took him to Campbelltown Police Station.
He is currently assisting police with their inquiries and no charges have been laid.
A paramedic has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in an early morning attack
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said it is a currently an ‘extremely difficult time’ for the man’s family and colleagues.
Commissioner Morgan said he met the paramedic’s mother, father, wife, and sister this morning who are ‘beside themselves’.
He said the man’s father told him he knew from the age of five that he wanted to be a paramedic.
It was a dream he fulfilled just 12 months ago.
‘He wanted nothing more to serve his community,’ Commissioner Morgan said.
‘He’d been with us for a relatively short period of time and had recently found out that he’d been posted back to south-west Sydney.
‘I’m told he was so pleased that he was going to be able to stay here and bring up his family.’
NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce broke down in tears as she expressed sympathy for the victim’s family.
NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce (pictured) broke down during a press conference on Friday
‘The health system is one big family and to lose someone in this way is just incomprehensible to us,’ she said
‘And to lose someone in this way is incomprehensible to us.
‘I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the wife and family of the paramedic.’
Ms Pearce said the state’s health system has been through a lot over these past few years and she was proud of all workers who have continued to show up every day to help other members of the community.
Deputy Commissioner Lanyon said the 21-year-old man may have been driving around the Ingleburn and Campbeltown areas in a blue Honda Jazz Civic prior to the incident and urged the public to come forward if they had seen the vehicle.
The NSW Ambulance paramedic was stabbed outside a McDonald’s on Queen Street at Campbelltown, south-west Sydney, at 5.30am on Friday
Asked if the man in custody was known to police Mr Lanyon said: ‘He is only known to us through a few interactions.’
Police have set up a crime scene at the McDonalds and have urged members of the public to avoid the area.
Two men were allowed to leave the cordon just after 11am, one of whom appeared to be the McDonald’s manager.
He said he had been told not to speak to the media but when asked if the paramedic was going to be okay he said: ‘We don’t know’.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the stabbing was a ‘terrible situation’ for the emergency services community.
‘It’s a reminder that’s it a very difficult and dangerous job,’ he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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