NSW Police identify attacker who fatally stabbed 6 people at Bondi Junction

by GRACE JOHNSON

NSW Police have identified 40-year-old Joel Cauchi as the perpetrator of the Bondi Junction stabbing rampage yesterday afternoon, which killed six people and injured 12 more.

The attacker, who police have said is from Queensland, walked into the shopping centre at about 3:20pm on Saturday with a 30-centimetre-long hunting knife.

He was then tracked down and shot dead by a lone police officer, a female inspector who had been conducting routine duties nearby.

5 women and one man were killed as a result of the deadly attacks.

A further twelve injured people, including a 9-month-old baby that has since undergone surgery, remain in hospitals across Sydney, said Health Minister Ryan Park.

Police promised a “lengthy and precise” investigation

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the force will be tracking Cauchi’s life “life leading up to yesterday”

“This will be an active investigation for many days and perhaps weeks while we identify not only the movement of the offender, not just yesterday, but the hours, the days, the weeks, his life leading up to yesterday.”

The community should not be concerned about any ongoing threat, she continued.

“What we do understand so far is that there’s no ideological motivation,” said Webb.

“We do understand that there is a history of mental health.”

Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said there was no evidence the attack was terrorism related.

“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” Cooke said.

The first victim to be publicly named was 38-year-old mother, Ashlee Good, whose baby was also stabbed and remains in hospital.

Another victim was Dawn Singleton, the daughter of businessman John Singleton and lawyer Julie Martin.

The man killed is understood to have been a security guard.

Two of the victims were visiting from overseas and had no family in Australia.

“It may be some time [before] we can identify all of the victims because some family members do not reside in Australia,” said Webb.

The high proportion of female victims is one of the lines of inquiry being investigated by police.