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    Former Bury Footballer Paul O'Shaughnessy Helps Subdue Knife Attacker in Sydney

    Tom Sunderland@@TomSunderland_Featured ColumnistAugust 13, 2019

    Police investigate inside a building near the scene of a knife rampage in Sydney on August 13, 2019. - Australian police said they had discovered a body near the scene of a knife rampage in central Sydney on Tuesday, but were still determining whether it was linked to the attack. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
    SAEED KHAN/Getty Images

    Former Bury midfielder Paul O'Shaughnessy was one of three men who helped chase and subdue a man accused of a knife attack in Sydney, Australia.

    Local police said O'Shaughnessy, 37, his younger brother, Luke, and friend Lee Cuthbert helped disarm the man, who allegedly killed a 21-year-old woman, per Goal's Chris Burton. A 41-year-old man was also hospitalised with stab wounds.

    Per News.com.au, the trio and another man confronted the alleged attacker and used a milk crate and a chair to pin him down until police arrived.

    The former Shakers midfielder spoke to the media soon after the attack:

    Sky News @SkyNews

    Paul O'Shaughnessy talks to the media after he and his brother successfully restrained a knifeman on the streets of Sydney. Get more on this story here: https://t.co/bXeush3twM https://t.co/w9u2H2K9mq

    In a later interview, O'Shaughnessy spoke to Michael McGowan and Alison Rourke of the Guardian: 

    “In our heads we were saying to each other, 'Be careful, be careful,' and we were asking witnesses, we were saying, 'What has he got, is there anything else?' 'Nah, it's just a knife' – so that made us press forward even more because you can tackle someone if it's like that, not if he's got a gun or whatever.

    “So we went straight over, we got him near a cafe down near George Street. There was one guy already tussling and we just kind of like, everyone just jumped on the guy.”

    Reporter Andrew Denney posted footage of the alleged attacker (Warning: Contains profanity):

    Andrew Denney @Andrew_Denney

    Just witnessed incredible bravery from members of the public and ⁦@FRNSW⁩ officers chasing down a man on a stabbing rampage in Sydney’s CBD. He is now under arrest. ⁦@7NewsSydney⁩ https://t.co/wNKatejHVp

    In the video, the man can be heard shouting: "Shoot me. Shoot in the f--king head, I want to f--king die."

    O'Shaughnessy moved to Australia in 2008 to play for North Sydney, spending two seasons with the club before he joined Dunbar Rovers.