An Irishman was injured after he helped take down a terrorist who knifed a woman to death and left another injured in Sydney, Australia.
Shane Donaghey from Buncrana in Co Donegal says he has no doubt that other people would have been killed but for the intervention of brave passers-by.
The 38-year-old carpenter was one of a number of people who ran after the attacker during the incident at King Street.
Shane Donaghey, who was injured when he assisted with capturing a terrorist in Australia. Photo: Joe Boland.
After catching up with him, Shane helped pin him to the ground during the attack at Sydney's Central Business District around 2pm this afternoon.
The 21-year-old man, who was shouting Allahu Akbar, was waving a large butcher's knife about after he killed the first woman.
He stabbed the 41-year-old in the back and then tried to attack other passers-by.
Another woman was taken to hospital with stab wounds.
With no thought for his own safety, selfless Shane and a group of other people ran after the terrorist.
"It was crazy stuff. I just heard this commotion and this guy 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.
"But he was as weak as p*** when we got on top of him. He was still shouting Allahu Akbar.
"He was a hard man with the knife but not so hard without it. He started to cry after that," revealed Shane.
Screengrab taken with permission from a video issued by 7 News of a man being tackled with a milk crate and chairs by members of the public in Sydney, Australia, following a knife attack. Photo: Andrew Denney/7 News/PA.
Shane did suffer cuts and bruises to his knees but apart from that is fine.
The Irishman paid tribute to the bravery of the public in helping to assist him in bringing the terrorist under control.
"He was just wild when he was running down the street. I suppose like me the adrenalin kicked in and others took after him too.
I've no doubt he would have killed others too if he had been allowed to run loose with that knife.
The city was sent into lockdown after the attack which has put Sydney on a high state of alert.
Shane moved to Australia with his mother and father and the rest of the family in 1988 and have carved out successful lives for themselves there.
Shane is a successful carpenter who has worked on a number of high-end projects in Sydney.
When his family first moved to Australia they opened up an Irish restaurant known as Mulligans in Chipendale.
"We are still very much Buncrana people living in Ireland and we still love Ireland very much," added Shane.
Meanwhile, Australian police say the suspect has no known links to terrorist organisations and that he does have a history of mental illness.
