A man allegedly armed with scissors was tackled by heroic parishioners at a Greek Orthodox church in Melbourne on Holy Friday.
Eyewitnesses said the man was allegedly waving scissors close to women and children near the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Thornbury before brave churchgoers managed to subdue him until police arrived.
The frightening scenes left children in tears and crowds of parishioners screaming and confused.
Victoria Police told Noticer News that a man, 38, is expected to be charged on summons after being located on David St with scissors, and that he was spoken to and assessed by police after being observed behaving erratically.
“Someone yelled out run and everyone ran. I turned around and here’s this malaka in a hospital gown yelling who knows what waving a knife,” said one witness on social media.
“Police were there in less than five minutes. All good when said and done but left my 13-year-old in bloody tears from fear and wanted to go home. Wasn’t pleasant.”
She said he appeared to be an “outsider” and not a Greek church attendee.
“We were there and it was extremely scary. Especially for all our little children. Luckily no one was hurt,” another parishoner said.
Facebook page Greeks in Australia said that nobody was injured, and the service went ahead, sharing images courtesy of the church.
Police confirmed that no-one was hurt or threatened.
The frightening incident comes just weeks after Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanual was stabbed in an alleged Islamic terror attack at an Orthodox church in Wakeley, western Sydney, sparking riots outside afterwards.
The Church of St. George was contacted for comment.
