The man accused of going on a stabbing spree through Sydney’s CBD casually took a selfie in a laneway just moments after allegedly slashing the throat of a 24-year-old woman.
Michaela Dunn was found dead in a Clarence Street unit on Tuesday almost two hours after Mert Ney, 21, was first seen on CCTV entering the apartment at 1.30pm.
New footage obtained by Channel Seven emerged of Ney wandering into an alley just before 2pm, pausing and then appearing to hold a phone in front of his face.
After seemingly taking a selfie, he then ran out of the deserted alleyway onto neighbouring Clarence Street – where his rampage through the city began.
The footage emerged after Ney’s 24-year-old alleged victim was identified as Ms Dunn, who attended Rosebank College, a Catholic school in Sydney’s inner west and was studying at the University of Notre Dame.
Pictures shared to social media showed Ms Dunn travelled through Sri Lanka and the US in the past year, as well as previously holidaying in Europe.
Michaela Dunn has been identified as the 24-year-old woman allegedly killed in Sydney’s CBD on Tuesday
New footage has emerged of Ney wandering into an alley moments after he allegedly killed Ms Dunn just before 2pm, pausing and then appearing to hold a phone in front of his face (pictured)
The footage emerged after Ney’s 24-year-old alleged victim was identified as Ms Dunn, who attended Rosebank College, a Catholic school in Sydney’s inner west and was studying at the University of Notre Dame
Police said while the body had not yet been formally identified, it was believed to be that of Ms Dunn
Police said while the body had not yet been formally identified, it was believed to be that of Ms Dunn.
They believe Ms Dunn was a sex worker and Ney had been her client, having made an appointment to see her at 1.30pm.
The victim had a personal listing on Locanto under the section ‘men seeking women’, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Nearly five years earlier, the 24-year-old alleged victim of Sydney’s knife attack shared a heartbreaking photo of the floral tributes in the wake of the 2014 Sydney siege.
Almost five years earlier the city faced a similar danger when gunman Man Haron Monis held 18 people hostage at Lindt Cafe in Martin Place, and Ms Dunn (centre) posted about the tragedy on social media
Ms Dunn visited the ‘field of flowers’ following the Sydney siege and shared a picture of the makeshift memorial to Instagram. ‘I pray that we will never have to see anything like this ever happen again,’ she wrote at the time
Almost five years earlier the city faced a similar danger when gunman Man Haron Monis held 18 people hostage at Lindt Cafe in Martin Place.
Ms Dunn’s mother Joanne said she was a ‘beautiful, loving woman’
The 16-hour standoff in December 2014 ended with the deaths of employee Tori Johnson and customer Katrina Dawson.
Sydney residents were united in grief after the tragedy and began to place floral bouquets at Martin Place.
Ms Dunn visited the ‘field of flowers’ following the siege and shared a picture of the makeshift memorial to Instagram.
‘Every time I see this see this sea of flowers it gives me goosebumps,’ she wrote.
‘The unity Sydney has shown today is unbelievable.
‘My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the siege.
‘I pray that we will never have to see anything like this ever happen again.’
The hashtag ‘illridewithyou’ also took off on social media, following concerns members of the Muslim community would be persecuted in the wake of the attack.
Ms Dunn’s mother said her daughter travelled widely and in posts shared to her social media accounts, the 24-year-old visited the Gold Coast for university games
New South Wales Police released a photo (pictured) of Ms Dunn after identifying her as the victim on Wednesday
Ms Dunn has been remembered as ‘incredible’ by Joan Westenberg, who said she first met Ms Dunn when she was a 14-year-old ‘kid’ in high school. Ms Westenberg dated Ms Dunn’s sister for six years
Michaela Dunn, 24, was allegedly murdered at a Sydney apartment by Mert Ney on Tuesday
Pictures also showed the young woman travelling to Sri Lanka (right) and the US in the past year, as well as holidaying in Europe (left)
Her mother Joanne told Nine News Ms Dunn was a ‘beautiful, loving woman who had studied at university and travelled widely’.
She also said the young woman was ‘very much loved’.
In photos shared to her social media accounts, the 24-year-old visited the Gold Coast for uni games.
Ney stands accused of shutting down Sydney’s CBD during a terrifying rampage that left a 24-year-old sex worker dead. The woman’s body is seen being taken from her home
Pictures also showed the young woman travelling to Sri Lanka and the US in the past year, as well as holidaying in Europe.
Police believe Ms Dunn was a sex worker and Ney had been her client earlier in the day, having made an appointment to see her at 1.30pm.
‘While her family appreciate the support offered by the community, they have requested their privacy at this difficult time,’ a statement from police read.
Accused Sydney CBD knifeman Mert Ney was filmed in the back of a police van after his arrest in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon
Ms Dunn was found with her throat slashed inside her central city apartment (Pictured, her neighbour’s apartment)
SISTER OF CRAZED SYDNEY KNIFEMAN WAS ‘CHOKED AND PUNCHED DAYS BEFORE RAMPAGE’:
A sister of the man accused of going on a violent rampage through central Sydney claims she was choked and punched by her brother just days before the alleged attack.
The city was thrown into chaos on Tuesday afternoon when Mert Ney, 21, stormed through the centre of the city brandishing a large kitchen knife.
A woman was found with her throat slashed inside a nearby unit and another was found in the back of a pub with a stab wound to her back.
Ney, 21, grew up in a brick home (pictured) in Marayong, near Blacktown, the middle sibling of two siblings and the son of Turkish-Cypriot parents
Ney was detained at about 2pm as heroic bystanders made a citizens’ arrest, and police were soon on the scene.
His sister Yazel told The Daily Telegraph she notified police about her brother just six days earlier after she was allegedly punched in the face and choked.
‘He ran at me, punched and choked me, I couldn’t breathe.’
Police earlier confirmed they were on the search for Ney last week in relation to a domestic violence issue.
Yazel said she felt disgusted at her brother’s alleged behavior and called him a ‘monster’.
She claimed her brother had battled depression and schizophrenia for a number of years but she could not pinpoint where the trouble began.
‘The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Michaela’s murder is being led by detectives from the Homicide Squad under Strike Force Lalchere.’
Ney’s sister has apologised to the family of his alleged victim, saying: ‘Sorry a million times… I’m just really sorry to the victim’.
One of Ney’s sisters, who declined to give her name, said her brother had a ‘steep descent into insanity’ and she wanted him to ‘suffer’ and be punished severely by the law for what he had allegedly done.
Mert Ney is accused of killing the woman before running through the Sydney CBD with a large knife and stabbing another. He was restrained by civilians and firefighters using a crowbar, a chair and a crate (pictured)
‘I want him to suffer. I want them to just put him in like the worst mental health institution where it’s like jail,’ she said.
Ney grew up in a brick home in Marayong, near Blacktown in Sydney’s west, the middle of three siblings and the son of Turkish-Cypriot parents.
‘He was not much of a talker,’ said Reen Elomari, who went to primary school with Ney at Marayong Public.
Another man who went to high school with Ney told Daily Mail Australia his former classmate recently converted to Islam, and had been posting about his newfound religion on social media.
‘He always used to walk fast, not many friends, never used to say anything.
‘I always used to see him roam around the streets alone. I would see him around my house. I’d see him maybe a couple of times [at the shops at Westpoint], just alone’.
One of his sisters would play hot potato in the front yard of one of Ms Elomari’s relatives, but the shy boy refused to participate and would stand there with his arms crossed.
A man who was in the same class as Ney in high school said he was shocked at reports he was behind the attacks.
‘I always thought he was a bit weird and he was always posting [on Facebook] about converting [to Islam] and stuff like that,’ the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
‘[But] I didn’t expect him to go this far.’
Police said Ney was carrying a USB stick ‘suggesting he had some ideologies related to terrorism’ and referencing the Christchurch mosque attacks and mass shooting in the U.S (pictured a man with a knife circled left can be seen walking towards a bystander circled right)
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller today revealed that he had been reported missing before Tuesday’s dramatic rampage on Clarence Street
Ney’s Facebook page has since been deleted.
Another school friend claims to have spoken to him just last week, saying he planned to attend a music festival.
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller today revealed that he had been reported missing before Tuesday’s dramatic rampage on Clarence Street.
Linda Bo was stabbed in the back and was taken by ambulance from Hotel CBD at the corner of King and York Street in Sydney
Ney is currently under police guard at hospital but is expected to be charged with attempted murder and assault when he is deemed medically fit to speak with police.
A school photo taken of Mert Ney in Year 8 shows the otherwise ‘lonely and weird’ teenager smiling in his Blacktown Boys High School uniform
Police said Ney was carrying a USB stick ‘suggesting he had some ideologies related to terrorism’ and referencing the Christchurch mosque attacks and mass shooting in the U.S.
Commissioner Fuller said investigators would be looking at his Facebook history and searching chatrooms to see if there is some evidence link to terrorism.
Police have not ruled out possible terrorism charges, he said.
He said there was nothing globally to link him to terrorism but they haven’t interviewed him yet.
‘I mean, just having some footage saved on a USB drive is not a leap far enough for me to say that this is a terrorist incident.
‘But obviously, it’s extremely concerning and it is the starting point of a long-term investigation.’
‘I was just acting on instinct’: Hero bystander recounts the moment he pinned crazed knifeman to the ground using a MILK CRATE after stabbing a woman and attacking others in Sydney’s CBD
Heroic bystanders managed to stop a blood-soaked man who allegedly went on a stabbing rampage at Sydney’s Wynyard train station on Tuesday just after 2pm.
Covered in blood and wielding a large knife, Mert Ney, 21, could be seen yelling in the street as hundreds of people fled for their lives.
Luke O’Shaughnessy, 30, a champion Muay Thai boxer from Manchester, who watched as the incident unfolded, managed to subdue the crazed attacker by putting a milk crate over his head.
‘It was terrifying mate, it was really bad,’ his brother Paul, 37, a former professional soccer player, told Daily Mail Australia.
A heroic bystander has managed to stop a blood-soaked man who allegedly went on a stabbing rampage at Sydney’s Wynyard train station on Tuesday just after 2pm
‘I was just acting on instinct really. We all just kind of followed suit and just did what we could’.
‘Obviously there’s something clearly wrong with him, he didn’t look normal or anything like that’.
‘It was an intense moment. I’ve got a lot of emotion running high as well. It was pretty scary stuff’.
Paul, who owns a recruitment company on nearby King Street, said they heard ‘a big kerfuffle and shouting’ and thought they were witnessing a terror attack.
‘Luke, my brother, popped his head out and said ‘what’s going on? There’s a guy holding a knife’,’ he said.
Luke O’Shaughnessy chased the attacker and managed to pin him to the ground