Sydney mall attacker ‘focused on targeting women’, police say after new details emerge
New information has come to light following the devastating attack in a Sydney shopping centre on Saturday.
After a man entered the Westfield shopping centre at around 3:30pm local time at Bondi Junction with a knife, his vicious attack would leave six people dead and 12 injured.
Those who were there were filmed fleeing the mall, while others barricaded themselves inside of shops and stalls to get away from Joel Cauchi, the 40-year-old named by police as the assailant.
Cauchi, who was shot dead at the scene by officers, was known to police in neighbouring Queensland, however prior to this incident he had not been arrested or charged with anything incriminating.
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But new details have emerged by police as they continue investigate the matter, with it being revealed that Cauchi appeared to have been primarily targeting women in his ruthless attack.
New South Wales police Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News Breakfast about what the department had found: "It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest that the offender focused on women and avoided the men.
"We don’t know what was operating in the mind of the offender and that’s why it’s important now that detectives spend so much time interviewing those who know him, were around him, close to him.
"So, we can get some insight into what he might have been thinking."
Authorities confirmed that five of the six people killed were women - one of which was 38-year-old Ashlee Good, who has tragically left behind her 9-month-old baby girl.
The infant was also critically injured in the attack and remains in hospital.
Since the horrific ordeal, Good's family has spoken out.
In a statement released yesterday (April 14), the family said: "[We are] reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all-round outstanding human and so much more.
"We would also like to thank the New South Wales Police for their kindness and diligence in this tragedy and emergency services for getting our baby the care she needed as quickly as possible.
"To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not - words cannot express our gratitude."
Ashlee's daughter is said to be in critical condition in the ICU after undergoing surgery.
The other victims who sadly lost their lives in the senseless attack include Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, allegedly in her 20s, and Faraz Tahir, 30, a security guard.
This morning (15 April), Webb was asked by ABC about footage of the spree which appeared to show the knife man only targeting women.
She responded: "The videos speak for themselves, don't they? It's obvious to me, it's obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.
"Five of the deceased are women and the majority of victims in hospital are also women.
"We don't know what was operating in the mind of the offender and that's why it's important now that detectives spend so much time interviewing those who know him, were around him, close to him, so we can get some insight into what he might have been thinking.
"We won't know necessarily but we have to take a judgement from those who know him."
Cauchi's family released a statement shortly after the attack, describing their late son's actions as 'truly horrific', adding they were 'still trying to comprehend what has happened'.
Britt Jones