SYDNEY, April 15 — The Australian police have said the attacker who fatally stabbed six people at a busy shopping centre in Sydney’s beach suburb of Bondi on Saturday (April 13) may have targeted women, as the country mourned the victims and hundreds of people laid flowers near the scene.
In the attack at the Westfield Bondi Junction mall, five of the six people killed and the majority of the 12 injured were women.
“It is obvious to me, it is obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.
“The videos speak for themselves, do they not? That is certainly a line for inquiry for us,” New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Witnesses described how attacker Joel Cauchi, 40, wearing shorts and an Australian national rugby league jersey, ran through the mall with a knife. He was killed by Inspector Amy Scott, who confronted him solo while he was on the rampage.
Police have said Cauchi had mental health issues in the past, and there was no indication ideology was a motive.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “the gender breakdown … was concerning” when asked on ABC Radio if it was a gender-motivated attack.
The only man who was killed during the attack was a 30-year-old security guard at the mall, Faraz Tahir, who arrived in Australia last year as a refugee from Pakistan, according to a statement from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Australia, to which he belonged.
The New South Wales government said it would provide A$18 million (RM55.62 million) for an independent coronial inquest into the attack, but Premier Chris Minns ruled out changing the rules to allow private security guards to carry firearms.
Day of mourning
Thousands of flowers and wreaths lay in a makeshift memorial outside the beachside mall in Bondi today as hundreds of Sydneysiders came down to pay tributes.
“It is shocking something like this could happen so close to home. I am still trying to get back to everyday life. I have taken today off to try and get my head better,” said Wren Wyatt, who paid respects at the memorial.
She was walking past the mall on Saturday when a crowd rushed past her screaming, and security told her to flee.
Police said they finished taking physical evidence at the mall and allowed people inside to collect cars and other belongings.
Violent crimes such as Saturday’s stabbing are rare in the country of about 27 million people, which has some of the world’s toughest gun and knife laws.
In honour of the victims, the Australian national flag is flying at half-mast across the country, including at Parliament House and Sydney’s Harbour Bridge. Today evening, the Sydney Opera House’s sails will be lit with a black ribbon.
Chinese state TV reported yesterday that one Chinese citizen was among those who had died in the attack, without revealing the identity of the victim, while another Chinese citizen had been injured.
— Reuters
