Sydney attacker may have targeted women
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The man who murdered six people in a busy Sydney shopping centre was known to authorities because of previous concerning behaviour including an unusual interest in knives.
The attacker has been identified as Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old teacher turned male escort who was sleeping rough after moving from Queensland to Sydney, where he was shot dead on Saturday.
In a statement released on Sunday, his parents Andrew and Michele described their son’s actions as “truly horrific”.
“We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday,” they said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.
“We are in contact with both the NSW Police Force and Queensland Police Service and have no issues with the police officer who shot our son as she was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is coping alright.”
Inspector Amy Scott shot Cauchi after he lunged at her with the knife he had already used to wound 17 people inside Westfield in Bondi Junction – among them, a baby girl who was being pushed by her mother, Dr Ashlee Good.
Dr Good, an osteopath who was remembered by family as an “all round outstanding human” died in hospital on Saturday night. Her daughter remained in hospital on Sunday after undergoing surgery.
Dr Good’s family described her as “a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all round outstanding human and so much more”.
They said in a statement: “To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not – words cannot express our gratitude.” The baby, named Harriet, was said to be recovering well after lengthy surgery.
Inspector Scott was hailed by Anthony Albanese, Australia’s Prime Minister, as a “hero” who “no doubt” had “saved lives through her action”.
Five other victims – four women and a male security guard – were killed inside the shopping centre.
New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said it was a “line of inquiry” that the Sydney shopping centre attacker “focused on women and avoided the men” during his stabbing spree.
Asked during an interview with ABC News about CCTV footage which appeared to show Cauchi targeting women, Ms Webb said: “The videos speak for themselves, don’t they, and that’s certainly a line of inquiry for us.
“It’s obvious to me and it’s obvious to detectives that it seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.
“It has been reported that five of the deceased are women and the majority of victims in hospital are also women.”
The victims include architect Jade Young, 47, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, economics student Yixuan Cheng, 27, and Dawn Singleton, 25, who was the daughter of millionaire businessman John Singleton.
Ms Singleton, an e-commerce assistant, was due to get married to her high school sweetheart, Ashley Wildey, Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported. She had bought her wedding dress days before she was killed and had been sending out invitations.
Faraz Tahir, 30, from Pakistan, was on his first day shift at Westfield when he was fatally stabbed.
Cauchi’s family contacted police after seeing news footage of the attacker, who police said would only occasionally “text his mother with an update as to where he was”.
As Australians reeled from the deaths, questions turned to the man’s motivations and past interactions with authorities and psychiatrists.
Early social media reports falsely linked the attack to events in the Middle East but Anthony Cooke, assistant commissioner of New South Wales Police, said: “There is still to this point nothing – no information we have received, no evidence we’ve recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered – that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise.”
Cauchi did not have a criminal record but he was known to police and government health agencies because of periods of erratic behaviour since being diagnosed as schizophrenic at age 17.
Queensland police assistant commissioner, Roger Lowe, said officers in that state last recorded interacting with Cauchi during a street check in the Gold Coast in December.
In a separate incident, officers were called to his house in 2023 after he had a dispute with his family. Cauchi had been in possession of knives and made allegations his family were abusing him by trying to take them away, the Courier Mail newspaper reported.
A man who owns a knife-sharpening business said about three years ago Cauchi had asked the business to sharpen his two “everyday knives”.
“Which I thought was weird,” the owner told The Guardian. “He wasn’t a chef or a butcher.”
Cauchi tried to organise meet-ups with people who like to “shoot guns”, social media posts show. Unemployed and drifting between hostels, Cauchi had turned to online sex websites to advertise his services as a male escort.
But none of his recent online activities raised alarm bells with authorities. In a backpacker group, he asked fellow travellers to join him in a road trip to explore New South Wales.
In April he put out a call to go surfing at the world-famous Bondi Beach. It was in Bondi on Saturday that Cauchi stopped to eat his last meal, at a Vietnamese restaurant at 10am.
But he seemed “confused”, staff reported, and didn’t have money to pay. He came back at midday to purchase a red curry with rice.
By 3.30pm he had pulled a knife from his backpack, and committed one of the most devastating crimes in recent Australian history.
Sunday evening vigil
Mourners gathered outside the Westfield mall in Bondi Junction on Sunday evening for a small vigil dedicated to the six victims killed in the stabbing spree. A group of about 40 people from a local Muslim association placed flowers in memory of Mr Tahir.
Mr Albanese said Australians were struggling to understand an “unspeakable” attack that is “really just beyond comprehension”.
He said: “People going about their Saturday afternoon shopping should be safe, shouldn’t be at risk. But tragically, we saw a loss of life, and people will be grieving for loved ones today.
“We also know there are many people still in hospital dealing with recovery, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
Mr Albanese said he had received messages from Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden and Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, among others.
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, flew back from Japan on hearing news of the attack. He said it had been “incredible to see complete strangers jump in, run towards the danger for their own lives in harm’s way to save someone that they’ve never met before”.
On Monday, Mr Minns said a coronial inquest and government review would consider whether the attack demonstrated a need to strengthen mental health supports.
“We spend billions on mental health each year, but if it’s going to the right places, if it’s spent in the right way, if the quantum is enough, will be the focus of our inquiry,” he said.
