Sydney knife attacker appears to have targeted women, police say
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[April 15, 2024]
By Renju Jose and Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) -The man who fatally stabbed six people at a mall in
Sydney's beachside suburb of Bondi seems to have targeted women, police
said, as the attacker's father opened up about his son's long history of
mental illness and frustrations with women.
Clad in shorts and an Australian national rugby league jersey, Joel
Cauchi, 40, roamed through the busy Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday
with a large knife. Five of the six people he killed were women as were
the majority of the 12 injured.
He was shot to death by Inspector Amy Scott, who confronted him alone on
the fifth floor after a pursuit through the mall.
The attacker's father, Andrew Cauchi, told reporters on Monday he was
devastated by the news and said his son had a long history of mental
illness and frustrations with women.
"He wanted a girlfriend and he has no social skills and he was
frustrated out of his brain," he said in comments reported by The
Australian newspaper.
Andrew Cauchi said he had taken five U.S. army knives from Joel when
Joel visited him last year as he feared he could get stabbed.
The comments came hours after senior police officers said they were
investigating the possibility the attacker had focused on women.
"It's obvious to me, it's obvious to detectives that seems to be an area
of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men,"
New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb told the Australian
Broadcasting Corp.
"The videos speak for themselves, don't they? That's certainly a line
for inquiry for us."
Police have said there was no indication ideology was a motive.
The only man killed during the attack was 30-year-old security guard,
Faraz Tahir, who had arrived in Australia last year as a refugee from
Pakistan, according to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Australia, to
which he belonged.
Authorities on Monday identified the sixth victim as Chinese national
Yixuan Cheng who was studying in the country.
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A view of a police car outside Westfield Bondi Junction as the mall
remains under lockdown following Saturday’s stabbings in Sydney,
Australia April 14, 2024. REUTERS/Alasdair Pal/File Photo
The New South Wales government announced on Monday a A$18 million
($12 million) independent coronial inquest into the attack but
Premier Chris Minns ruled out new rules that would allow private
security guards to carry firearms.
DAY OF MOURNING
Thousands of flowers and wreaths lay in a makeshift memorial outside
the mall on Monday as hundreds came from across the city to honour
those killed.
"It's shocking something like this could happen so close to home,"
said Wren Wyatt, who paid respects at the memorial.
"I'm still trying to get back to everyday life. I've taken today off
to try and get my head better," she added.
Wyatt said she was walking past the mall on Saturday when a crowd
rushed past her screaming and security told her to flee.
David Spencer travelled more than 50 kms (31 miles) from the city's
west with his two young sons to lay a wreath as a family after
watching his eldest react with terror to the news.
Mass killings are rare in the country of about 27 million people,
which has some of the world's toughest gun and knife laws.
The Australian national flag is flying at half-mast across the
country, including at the Parliament House and Sydney's Harbour
Bridge, in honour of the victims. Sydney Opera House's sails will be
lit with a black ribbon on Monday evening.
($1 = 1.5437 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose, Lewis Jackson and Stella Qiu in Sydney;
Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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