image source, Rohan Anderson
A knife-wielding man at a Sydney shopping center appears to have targeted women.
Joel Cauchi, 40, terrorized the crowded Westfield Bondi Junction complex on Saturday.
5 of the 6 deceased were women. Several people, including a child, were injured.
The New South Wales police commissioner told Australia's ABC News that Mr Gauchi's focus on women was “obvious”.
A security guard, Faraz Tahir (30), who tried to intervene in the attack, was killed.
“The videos speak for themselves, don't they?” Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News Breakfast.
“It's clear to me, the detectives know… the perpetrator focused on women and avoided men.
“We don't know what went through the mind of the offender, which is why it's important now that detectives spend more time interviewing people who knew him.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC News on Monday that the “gender breakdown is certainly relevant.”
Officials have previously said that Cauchy, who was shot by a lone police officer on Saturday, was most likely a “psychologically-related” attack.
He was already known to police but had not been arrested or charged in his home state of Queensland. Queensland police said he had lived as a wanderer for years and was diagnosed with mental illness at the age of 17.
The attack – at one of the country's largest and most popular shopping centers – has 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 hoisted in tribute to the victims.
Mourners also thronged Bondi Junction, leaving flowers and cards for those killed in the attack.
Ashlee Good, 38, was stabbed while trying to protect her nine-month-old baby girl, who was also injured and rushed into surgery. His family said on Sunday that he is doing well now.
Architect Jade Young, 47, and Picria Torchia, 55, were also killed, while Dan Singleton, 25, was identified by local media.
The Chinese consulate in Sydney said the fifth victim – the only woman whose name has not been released – is a Chinese national.
