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

SYDNEY (AP) — Shoppers and workers returned to a “really quiet” Sydney mall Friday, where six days earlier an assailant stabbed six people to death and wounded more than a dozen others in an attack that police believe targeted women.

Westfield Bondi Junction mall near world-famous Bondi Beach had opened Thursday, although shops inside were closed, for a “community reflection day.” New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns described it as “the first step in healing” in what has been a traumatic week for Australia’s largest city.

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, Anthony Simpson, shopping with his two children, described the atmosphere at the usually busy shopping center as “somber.”

“It’s got an eerie feeling, I guess you could say,” Simpson said.

Another shopper, local Bondi resident Stephen Roy, simply said the mall was “really quiet.”

Authorities said counseling services were available on site for retail workers and visitors.

Echoing similar calls made by the NSW government, the union that represents retail workers asked shoppers to be mindful and sensitive of how they interact with the shopping center’s staff.

“It’s going to be a pretty confronting day for many people,” SDA NSW union secretary Bernie Smith said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday. “If you are in those shops, sure, you should acknowledge what’s happened, but don’t retraumatize workers by asking them what happened on that day.”

A large floral tribute outside the mall that began on Sunday has continued to grow since the attack, as