Police gather at the crime scene after a man stabbed a woman and attempted to stab others in central Sydney on August 13.
CNN  — 

One woman is dead and another injured after a daylight knife attack in Sydney’s city center on Tuesday.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said at a press conference it was believed to be a random attack, describing the scene as one of “terrifying carnage.”

Police said they received calls at about 2 p.m. local time that there was a man walking along York Street holding a knife.

Video from the scene posted by CNN-affiliate Channel 7 appears to show the alleged attacker yelling, “Shoot me, I want to … die.”

The 21-year-old suspect was apprehended by members of the public, with images from the scene showing bystanders using chairs and a milk crate to pin him down.

“Those are significantly brave people,” New South Wales Police Superintendent Gavin Wood said at a press conference Tuesday. “Those people are heroes.” The suspect was later formally arrested by police.

A woman, 41, was injured on the street, with police saying she was stabbed in the back. She was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

After the arrest, Fuller said officers found the body of a 21-year-old woman in an apartment on neighboring Clarence Street. The commissioner said “all available evidence” pointed to her death being linked to the stabbing incident.

“(The suspect) is by definition at the moment a lone actor,” Fuller said. “Information was found on him which would suggest he had some ideologies in relation to terrorism … (but) he has no apparent links to other terrorist organizations.”

Fuller said that information did not specifically relate to Islamic extremism – it also referenced recent terrorist attacks in North America and New Zealand.

The commissioner said the suspect had a history of mental health problems, but added the investigation was “live and ongoing.”