A police officer has been stabbed while conducting a patrol at a Cairns shopping centre.
Superintendent Chris Hodgman said the 50-year-old male officer came across a man known to him in a stairwell at Cairns Central on Tuesday afternoon.
The officer was by himself and had a partner in constant contact via radio, and the attack was recorded on body worn video.
He was transported to Cairns Hospital and is now in a stable condition.
A 22-year old man was arrested by police within half an hour at a residence near Bungalow.
Superintendent Hodgman stressed the stabbing was a random incident.
An investigation centre has been set up at the Cairns police station and officers are still searching for the knife used in the attack.
