One person killed in Melbourne stabbing incident; police rule out terrorism link 

One person was stabbed to death while two others sustained injuries after they were attacked by a man in the centre of the Australian city of Melbourne on Friday, Reuters reported quoting police sources.

Video posted to Twitter and broadcast on television showed a man repeatedly swinging an object at two police officers in the downtown area of the city. One of the officers raises his weapon, a shot is heard and the man falls to the ground clutching his chest.

"Police shot the male in a chest and he is now in critical condition under guard in hospital," Victorian police superintendent David Clayton told reporters.

"Three people have been stabbed, unfortunately, one of them is deceased at the scene," he said.

"There is no known links to terrorism at this stage, we will keep an open mind as to whether there is any link," he was quoted as saying as per AFP report. 

Police said they had initially responded to a car on fire. The bomb response unit has been called in and the streets closed to the public.

The street where the car caught fire was the scene in January 2017 of a fatal but not terror-related incident in which a man drove his car at pedestrians at high speed, killing six people and wounding about 30.

(With inputs from agencies)