A 29-year-old woman was allegedly fatally stabbed by a co-worker at the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra on Monday.
Emergency services were called to the zoo at about 12:50 pm on Monday after reports of a disturbance. When ACT Police arrived, they found the woman deceased in a commercial kitchen.
The person of interest, a 29-year-old man from the Canberra suburb Oaks Estate, was taken into custody and transported to hospital under police guard.
The zoo has now been closed for investigation, and police say there’s no ongoing threat to the public. No charges have been laid over the incident but a homicide investigation has commenced.
Detective Superintendent Hall O’Meagher of ACT Criminal Investigations said in a press conference that the victim and the suspect were co-workers at the zoo but “it’s unknown at this point in time if they had any further relationship outside of that work arrangement”.
“A post-mortem examination will be conducted in coming days, but at this stage it looks like she’s been stabbed to death with a knife,” he said, adding that “the knife was located at the scene”.
While police do not believe there are direct witnesses to the incident, Detective Superintendent O’Meagher said witnesses around the commercial kitchen area described a disturbance and responded by alerting authorities.
“The deceased was located in situ at a storeroom out the back of the commercial kitchen within the zoo,” he said.
The 29-year-old male suspect was taken to the Canberra Hospital from apparent self-inflicted wounds and is reported to be in stable condition.
“The investigating police have spoken to the family of the deceased, and our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time for them,” said Detective Superintendent O’Meagher.
The National Zoo and Aquarium has also released a statement expressing sympathy for “the families along with those staff “affected in one way or another”, adding that they have organised trauma counselling for all staff involved.
“A young woman has been stabbed to death in our nation’s capital,” said Sussan Ley, the acting leader of the opposition and shadow minister for women, in a statement on the alleged murder.
“This is yet another horrific tragedy which appears to have happened in a workplace.”
“As a woman I am angry, and I am shattered,” she said. “This is a national crisis. We must stop this violence.”
The total number of women killed by violence this year in Australia has reached sixty, according to Destroy the Joint’s tracking. This dreadful number is already higher than last year, as fifty-seven women’s lives were stolen by violence in 2022.
Police are urging anyone with information that could assist police to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website, and quote reference 7623644.