A knife-wielding man yelling "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," attempted to stab several people in Sydney on Tuesday before being restrained by members of the public, with one person taken to a hospital, police and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the man was carrying a 30-centimeter (12-inch) kitchen knife as he attempted to stab multiple people near a busy intersection in Australia's largest city.

New South Wales state police said in a statement that a man was arrested, and that a woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition. It was unclear whether the man stabbed anyone else.

"A number of members of the public physically restrained the offender," police Superintendent Gavin Wood said. "I want to acknowledge those members of the public who got involved. They were significantly brave people."

Wood said it appeared that the attack was unprovoked and the man had acted alone.

A witness told reporters that the man was screaming comments about religion, before yelling to police that he wanted to be shot. Police said he used the Arabic phrase "Allahu akbar."

A witness, Paul O'Shaughnessy, said he and his brother Luke were working in the office of their recruitment company when they heard shouting through an open window. They looked out and saw a Caucasian man, aged around 25, screaming "extremist" words, O'Shaughnessy said.

The brothers, fearing the man was conducting a terrorist attack, ran down to the street and began chasing the man, who was covered in blood.

Luke O'Shaughnessy and another man caught up with the offender and tackled him to the ground, Paul O'Shaughnessy said. Along with other passers-by, they used a milk crate and a chair to keep him pinned to the ground, he said.

Paul O'Shaughnessy told The Associated Press that the man "didn't show any remorse at all."