Six people, including a young mother, have been killed and more injured in a mass stabbing event in Westfield in Sydney’s Bondi Junction. The lone attacker, who was shot dead by police at the scene, has now been named.
The lone knifeman who stabbed six people to death and brought Sydney to a standstill on Saturday afternoon has been identified as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi from Queensland.
Police say they are confident he acted alone and the attack was random, not fuelled by any ideology.
“We know a little bit about this person,” NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said following the incident.
“If it is the person we believe it is, we don’t have fears for the person holding an ideation — in other words, that it’s not a terrorism incident.”
Cauchi recently moved to Sydney from Queensland and hired a small storage facility, which investigating officers have now accessed, Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said on Sunday morning.
“We have no information, we have received no evidence, we have recovered no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise,” he said.
“We know that the offender in the matter suffered from mental health.”
Senseless act of violence
Emergency services were called to the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre just before 4pm on Saturday after the attacker started lunging at shoppers, sending hundreds to sprint for the exits and others sheltering in shops and storerooms.
Six people were killed in the attack, including 38-year-old mother Ash Good. Her eight-month-old baby remains in hospital after undergoing surgery.
A further eight people were injured before Cauchi was shot dead by a senior police officer. The officer’s family asked the public not to republish her personal images in the wake of the tragedy.
Video from the scene emerged of the knife-man, wearing shorts and Australia rugby jersey, jogging through multiple levels of the shopping centre.
“He wasn’t going for anyone personally, you could tell it looked quite random, he was just running around with his knife,” a witness told Nine News.
“We had also seen people with bollards I think who were going to chase him, so it sometimes wasn’t clear who was a bad person.”
Other graphic videos show attempts to perform CPR on the injured.
Police officer a hero: Albanese
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Saturday’s act of violence would be difficult for most to comprehend.
“This was a horrific act of violence indiscriminately targeted at innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday, doing their shopping,” he said.
“Tragically, multiple casualties have been reported and the first thoughts of all Australians are with those affected and their loved ones. Our hearts go out to those injured and we offer our thanks to those caring for them as well as our brave police and first responders.
He described the police officer who shot the attacker as a hero.
“There is no doubt that she saved lives through her action,” he said.
“It is a reminder that those people who wear a uniform, are people who rush to danger, not away from it.”
