A manhunt has been launched after a machete attack rocked Sydney’s famed Oxford Street, with a young man brutally stabbed and a good Samaritan injured while trying to help.
Shocking CCTV showed the chaos that unfolded in one of the city’s main party districts after the man was attacked on the street in front of dozens of onlookers.
Police were called to reports of a stabbing outside a nightclub in Surry Hills, believed to be Noir Sydney, at about 3am on Saturday.
Witnesses told police a 25-year-old man was being stabbed by another man armed with a machete, and that a third man, 34, had been injured when he stepped in to try and stop the violence.
The man armed with the machete fled the scene on foot and was last seen running towards Palmer Street with several other males, police said. He has not been found.
A manhunt has been launched after a machete attack rocked Sydney’s famed Oxford Street, with a young man brutally stabbed and a good Samaritan injured while trying to help (the scene is pictured)
Footage from outside Noir nightclub shows partygoers milling around on the street, before two men are seen sprinting through the crowd and appearing to crash into another man, thought to be the 25-year-old.
In the CCTV footage, one of the men stands up and moves away, while the second stays on the ground and raises his arm multiple times towards the person who was tackled to the ground.
Moments later, another person is seen pushing the second man away, and he then sprints away across the street.
Friends of the younger man took him to St Vincent’s Hospital suffering multiple stab wounds, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.
Paramedics treated a 34-year-old man good Samaritan, who was not known to the younger man but had jumped in to help him, for injuries to his left arm and right hand, and took him to the same hospital.
He remains in a stable condition.
The incident has left many shaken, with Youth Against Violence founder Ouwais Menzel saying the usually friendly street, known as a safe area for LGBTIQ+ people, had felt ‘unsafe and threatening’ on Friday night.
‘There was an increased police presence, but more concerning than usual following recent spates of physical violence,’ he said.
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Police were called to reports of a stabbing outside a nightclub in Surry Hills, believed to be Noir Sydney, at about 3am on Saturday (scene pictured)
Witnesses told police a 25-year-old man was being stabbed by another man armed with a machete, and that a third man, 34, had been injured when he stepped in to try and stop the violence (scene pictured)
‘I also was told by friends that a rap music video was being shot at Noir Sydney that night, and something about the environment on the street didn’t feel right that night.’
Noir hosted American RnB artist Jacquees on Friday night, with the major event packed out.
There is no suggestion the nightclub has any link to the incident.
Mr Menzel said he was approached by many people on the evening who felt concerned about the atmosphere, but had reassured them there was nothing to worry about.
‘As I’ve found out, I was wrong,’ he said.
He urged police to take a harsher stance on homophobic violence he claims has increased in the area.
‘I hope that the NSW Police will now take the violence on Oxford Street serious after two men were stabbed,’ he said.
‘The fact that there was so much police presence on the night and the culprits got away was shocking to me.’
Police have established three crime scenes along Oxford Street, known as a central nightlife district within Sydney, and have seized the car used to take the 24-year-old to hospital.
Detectives have established Strike Force Jacob to investigate the attack.
Anyone with information or footage of the incident is urged contact Surry Hills Police Station or Crime Stoppers.
