Staff and shoppers return to ‘somber’ Sydney shopping mall 6 days after mass stabbings

By MARK BAKER and KEIRAN SMITH
Associated Press

SYDNEY (AP) — Shoppers and workers have returned to a “really quiet” Sydney mall, where six days earlier an assailant stabbed six people to death in an attack that police believe targeted women. Westfield Bondi Junction mall had opened Thursday for a “community reflection day” while the shops inside the mall reopened Friday. There was a large police and security presence, with guards wearing black stab-proof vests posted on each level of the mall. Visitors numbered in the hundreds, but were fewer than the usual expected on a Friday during school holidays. One visitor said the atmosphere was somber and another said it was really quiet. Authorities said counseling services were available for retail workers and visitors.