SYDNEY -- A knife-wielding man stabbed two people, one fatally, in Australia's second-largest city on Friday in an attack likely linked to terrorism, police said.

The attack during the afternoon rush hour brought central Melbourne to a standstill.

READ: 1 dead, 2 injured in stabbing on Melbourne street

Police said the man got out of a vehicle, which then caught fire, and attacked three bystanders with a knife before being shot by police. The suspect died later at a hospital. One of the victims also died and the two others were hospitalized.

Victoria state police Commissioner Graham Ashton said the suspect, who was originally from Somalia, was known to police and the incident is being treated as terrorism.