‘Obvious’ Sydney killer targeted women – Australian police

Police say a man armed with a knife at a Sydney shopping center appeared to be targeting women.

Joel Cauchi, 40, sent panic into the crowded Westfield Bondi Junction complex on Saturday when he began stabbing people with a long knife.

Five of the six dead were women. Several other people, including an infant, were injured.

The New South Wales police chief told ABC News Mr Couch was “obviously” focused on women.

The man killed was security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, who tried to intervene in the attack.

“The videos speak for themselves, don’t they?” Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News Breakfast.

“It was obvious to me and it was obvious to the detectives…the offenders focused on women and avoided men.

“We don’t know what was going on in the offender’s mind, which is why it’s important detectives spend so much time interviewing those who knew him.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also told ABC News on Monday that “the gender disparity is certainly concerning.”

Authorities previously said the attack was likely related to the “mental health condition” of Couch, who was shot and killed by a police officer on Saturday.

He was known to police but had never been arrested or charged in his home state of Queensland. Queensland Police said he had been homeless for several years and was first diagnosed with a mental illness when he was 17.

The attack, which took place in one of the country’s largest and most popular shopping malls, shocked Australia, where mass killings are rare.

Flags will be flown at half-mast across the country on Monday, and the sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit to pay tribute to the victims.

Crowds of mourners also flocked to Bondi Junction to lay flowers and cards for the victims of the attack.

Ashlee Good, 38, was stabbed while trying to protect her nine-month-old baby girl. She was also injured and rushed to surgery. Family members said Sunday that she is now in stable condition and doing well.

Police also named architects Jade Young, 47, and Pikria Darchia, 55, as victims, while local media identified 25-year-old Dawn Singleton.

The Chinese consulate in Sydney said the fifth female victim – the only one who has not been named – was a Chinese citizen.