SYDNEY – Four people have been taken to hospital after police opened fire on a knife-wielding man at Westfield Hornsby on Sydney’s Upper North Shore.

Emergency services were called to the shopping centre in Hornsby at about 11.50am following reports that a man was armed with a knife, NSW Police said in a media release.

“On arrival officers located the man and attempted to speak with him,” it said.

“Following a confrontation, a number of shots were fired by police.”

The four people injured have reportedly sustained various injuries and are being treated at the Royal North Shore Hospital.

NSW Police confirmed a police operation is underway at the shopping centre and are urging people to avoid Florence and Lynda St and the Pacific Hwy.

The cause of the confrontation is not yet known.

According to NSW Police, that investigation will be subject to an independent review.

– TiVi Tuan-san