stabbing
The perpetrator of the murderous stabbing at a Sydney shopping center, Joel Cauchi, was a 40-year-old wanderer with mental difficulties and an unusual interest in knives.
The murderous knife attack in the Westfield Shopping Center in the Australian capital Sydney was the work of 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, police report. The man was single, unemployed and said to have suffered from an unspecified mental condition. For now, the attack is not being treated as a terrorist attack.
Cauchi ran through the busy shopping center on Saturday, lashing out with a knife, until he was shot by police officer Amy Scott. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday called her a “hero” who had certainly saved many lives.
In addition to the perpetrator, six people lost their lives in the stabbing, including five women and a male security officer. Twelve people, mainly women, were injured and remain in hospital. Among the injured is a nine-month-old girl whose mother was killed.
Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said there was currently no information that would indicate “any specific motivation, ideological or otherwise” on the part of the perpetrator. It is currently being investigated whether Cauchi deliberately targeted women.
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Cauchi was reportedly diagnosed with an unspecified mental condition as early as age 17, police said. Over the years he would have been treated for this, but in recent years his mental health deteriorated.
He had a great interest in knives. In 2023, he came into contact with law enforcement after he called the police because his family had taken his collection of knives from him. But he has never been arrested or charged with a crime in the past. Cauchi only had sporadic contact with his family. After the family saw images of the knife attack, they contacted the police themselves.
Cauchi came from the Australian state of Queensland, where he traveled for years and only ended up in the state of New South Wales last month. During his stay in Sydney he slept in his vehicle. Last week he tried to meet up with a number of people via Facebook to go surfing at Bondi Beach.
