By Trend News Line 2024-04-14 17:00:00.
Australian police are investigating whether the man who murdered six people in a stabbing attack at a Sydney mall was targeting women, with most of his victims being female and reports he spared other men during the knife rampage.
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Two of the man’s victims have been named as 25-year-old Dawn Singleton and 38-year-old Ash Good, the mother of a 9-month-old girl who was also injured during the attack just after 3pm Saturday. The little girl is fighting for her life in hospital.
The third victim was identified as Jade Young, 47, a mother to two daughters and an active member in her community in Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The fourth was a refugee from Pakistan, 30-year-old Faraz Ahmed Tahir. He was a security guard at the mall and the only man killed.
55-year-old Pikria Darchia was the fifth victim identified. Darchia is originally from Tbilisi in Georgia, and the Sydney Morning Herald reported a LinkedIn profile suggests she was an artist.
In total, seven people died. This includes the attacker, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, who was shot dead by a policewoman after he lunged at her inside the mall. A further 12 people went to hospital.
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The policewoman who stopped him was identified as Inspector Amy Scott. She has been hailed by her boss for showing “enormous courage and bravery” when she responded to the Bondi Junction Westfield attack alone.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said there was “no ideological motive” behind Cauchi’s frenzied attack. But she and Queensland Health, the state’s public health service, confirmed he had a history of mental health treatment and was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17.
He was originally from Brisbane and in 2020 he posted on social media asking to meet people who shoot guns. He had a particular interest in knives, once calling the police on his family after they took knives away from him. In his last social media post hours before the attack, he asked people to come surfing with him.
Webb said any purposeful targeting of women would be “an obvious line of inquiry” for police.
When she was asked about video footage showing Cauchi ignoring men in the mall and deliberately chasing women, Webb said people could form their own opinions about what he was doing.
Witnesses saw Good trying to save her daughter after they were both attacked, handing her child to two strangers as she fought for her life. She was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital with critical injuries and died soon after arriving.
Good’s friends described her as “the world’s best mum” and “a beautiful human” as they mourned her death.
The second victim who died, Singleton, was the daughter of multi-millionaire advertising mogul John Singleton and lawyer Julie Martin.
The third victim was Jade Young, an architect who specialised in protecting heritage buildings.
The fourth victim, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, was originally from Pakistan and “had so many hopes and dreams for his future”, his friend Shajar Ahmad told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the attack was “a tragedy that should have never occurred” and offered his thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.
Albanese said the scenes at Bondi Junction were “beyond words or understanding”.
He laid flowers in memory of the victims yesterday afternoon.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Kiwis were thinking of those affected by the tragedy, saying “Australia is family”.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters also offered his thoughts, calling the event “shocking and appalling”.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell was in Sydney and was also due to lay a wreath in remembrance of the victims.
Earlier, Albanese paid special tribute to Scott, the policewoman who stopped Cauchi.
Scott was the first police officer on the scene and ran through the mall to confront Cauchi, according to the Daily Mail. He lunged at her and she shot him dead..
– Sydney mall stabbing update: Attacker’s identity revealed, victims identified
– New South Wales police probe motive behind Sydney mall stabbing incident.
