A New South Wales paramedic had stopped at McDonald’s during an early morning shift break before he was fatally stabbed outside the fast-food restaurant in Sydney’s south-west on Friday morning.
Police say the 29-year-old father was grabbing a bite to eat with a colleague after finishing a job nearby when he was stabbed at the Campbelltown restaurant. His colleague then called for help just before 5.30am.
Members of the public attempted to help the young man before police officers arrived and shot a 21-year-old man allegedly wielding a knife with a stun gun before taking him into custody, where he remained on Friday afternoon, according to police. No charges have been laid.
The paramedic was then rushed to Liverpool hospital where he was worked on by surgeons before he died.
The man had worked as a paramedic for about a year and had wanted to be a paramedic since he was five, according to the NSW ambulance commissioner, Dominic Morgan.
“He wanted nothing more than to serve his community,” Morgan said on Friday.
“He’d been with us a relatively short period of time, had recently found out that he was being posted back to south-west Sydney. I’m told he was just so pleased that he was going to be able to stay here with his family, bring up his children.”
The paramedic’s family has requested his name not be made public yet.
Detectives were working through the scene on Friday and collecting evidence including CCTV footage.
The man arrested was known to police but for relatively minor issues, the deputy police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said.
“On arrival, police were confronted by a 21-year-old man from Raby who was armed with a knife in order to render assistance to the ambulance paramedic, police were forced to use a taser,” he said.
“He has been taken to the Campbelltown police station where he is currently assisting police. The thoughts and deepest sympathies of the entire NSW police are with the families of that officer and the entire ambulance family.”
The exact circumstances leading up to the stabbing are still unknown.
Police believe the man they have in custody may have been driving around Ingleburn and Campbelltown in the early hours of Friday in a blue Honda Jazz and have asked anyone who may have seen the car to contact police.
The NSW health secretary, Susan Pearce, held back tears as she thanked the police, paramedics and surgeons who had tried to save the young man’s life.
“I’d like to extend my deepest condolences to the loved ones, the wife and family of our paramedic,” she said.
“The health system is one big family and to lose someone in this way is incomprehensible to us. Our health system has been through a lot over this last three years.”
She said all support possible was being made available to everyone involved.
The premier, Chris Minns, described the paramedic as a man committed to public service and thanked him for his service.
“It’s also a reminder that emergency services in NSW are filled with idealistic young people who could literally do any job in the world but have chosen to devote their professional life to public service in this state,” he said on Friday afternoon.
“It’s a dangerous and difficult job often and we thank them for their work and their service on behalf of NSW.
“It’s the state’s responsibility to look after this young man’s family and I say to all paramedics in NSW today, who after hearing this news, put on their paramedic uniform and serve the people of NSW, thank you for your dedication.”
The health minister, Ryan Park, thanked frontline workers and said the circumstances of the death were “simply beyond comprehension”.
“Our paramedics have been some of the heroes of the pandemic over the last few years,” he said.
“To have one of their own lose their life in this way is without a doubt a heavy burden for all of them to carry and my thoughts are with our paramedics and emergency call responders across NSW.”
