MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian police are inspecting why a lone assailant who stabbed six folks to dying in a busy Sydney shopping center and injured greater than a dozen others focused ladies whereas avoiding males, a police commissioner mentioned on Monday.
Police shot and killed the homeless assailant, Joel Cauchi, throughout his knife assault within the Westfield Bondi Junction mall on Saturday close to world-famous Bondi Seaside.
Police have dominated out terrorism and mentioned the 40-year-old had a historical past of psychological sickness.
New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb mentioned detectives would query Cauchi’s household in a bid to find out his motive. CCTV footage from the mall confirmed Cauchi focused ladies.
“The movies communicate for themselves, don’t they? And that’s actually a line of inquiry for us,” Webb informed Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“It’s apparent to me, it’s apparent to detectives that that appears to be an space of curiosity: that the offender had centered on ladies and prevented the boys,” Webb added.
The one male killed was Faraz Tahir, a Pakistani refugee who labored on the mall as a safety guard. Tahir had not been armed.
A lot of the 12 victims who survived their wounds had been additionally ladies, Webb mentioned.
The proof will probably be supplied to a coroner to report on the circumstances of the deaths.
Webb anticipated the coroner would additionally deal with the query of whether or not safety guards on the mall, which is one in every of Australia’s largest, needs to be armed.
The households of two victims based mostly abroad had been suggested of their deaths, police mentioned. These victims are Tahir, 30, from Pakistan, and Yixuan Cheng, 27, from China. Additionally killed had been Jade Younger, 47; Daybreak Singleton, 25; Pikria Darchia, 55; and Ashlee Good, 38.
Eight victims who survived their accidents remained in hospitals on Monday, together with Good’s 9-month-old daughter. The child’s situation improved in a single day Sunday from crucial to critical, well being authorities mentioned.
The circumstances of the opposite seven ranged from crucial to secure.
Flags on authorities buildings round Australia flew at half-staff on Monday as a day of nationwide mourning was declared to honor the victims. A black ribbon will seem on the sails of the Sydney Opera Home on Monday evening has a part of a light-weight show.
Police had given management of the seven-story crime scene again to the mall operators on Sunday evening, however a choice has but to be introduced on when it should reopen for enterprise.
The police officer who has been credited with saving many lives by taking pictures Cauchi lifeless, Insp. Amy Scott, will probably be interviewed by detectives on Tuesday.