Image source, Rohan Anderson
A man who carried out a stabbing rampage at a Sydney shopping center appears to have targeted women, police said.
Joel Cauchi, 40, caused panic in the busy Westfield Bondi Junction complex on Saturday when he began stabbing people with a long blade.
Five of the six people who died were women. A number of others were injured, including a child.
The New South Wales Police Commissioner told Australia's ABC News it was “clear” Cauchi was focusing on women.
The dead person was security guard Faraz Taher (30 years old), who tried to intervene in the attack.
“The videos speak for themselves, don't they?” Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News Breakfast.
“It is clear to me, and it is clear to investigators… that the perpetrator focused on women and avoided men.
“We don’t know what was going through the perpetrator’s mind, which is why it is now important that investigators spend a lot of time interviewing those who knew him.”
“The gender divide is of course worrying,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday told ABC News.
Authorities previously said the attack was likely “mental health-related” for Cauchi, who was shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday.
He was already known to police but was not arrested or charged in his home state of Queensland. Queensland Police said he lived itinerantly for several years and was first diagnosed with mental illness when he was 17 years old.
The attack, which occurred on one of the country's largest and most popular shopping malls, shocked Australia, where mass killings are rare.
Flags across the country will be flown at half-mast on Monday and the sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit in honor of the victims.
Crowds of mourners also flocked to Bondi Junction, leaving flowers and cards for those killed in the attack.
Ashley Judd, 38, was stabbed while trying to protect her nine-month-old daughter, who was also injured and taken into surgery. The family said on Sunday that she is now stable and in good health.
Police also identified architect Jed Young, 47, and Becrea D'Arcia, 55, as victims, while local media identified Dawn Singleton, 25.
The Chinese Consulate in Sydney said that the fifth victim – the only one whose name was not revealed – was a Chinese citizen.
