Bondi mall attack: Police investigating whether killer targeted women

New South Wales police are looking into whether the man who killed six people at a Sydney mall was targeting women.

The man – identified as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi – went on a frenzied stabbing attack at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon (local time).

He killed five women and one man and critically injured multiple others, including a nine-month-old baby, before being shot dead by police inspector Amy Scott.

On Sunday, New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb was asked if she believed Cauchi was targeting women.

“That’s been reported to me as well, and obviously that will be an obvious line of inquiry,” she said, according to the ABC.

“And that’s concerning, but that will form an obvious part of the investigation.

“I mean, anyone seeing that footage can see that for themselves,” she said, referring to video shot of Cauchi by shoppers at the mall.

Meanwhile, the family of Ashlee Good, one of the victims of Saturday’s attack, are remembering her as an “all round outstanding human” and loving mother, according to the ABC.

Good, 38, was stabbed alongside her baby girl. Her final act was to throw her daughter to two strangers in an attempt to save her life.

Those men used shirts from one of the stores to try to stop the little girl’s bleeding.

The nine-month-old was taken to Sydney Children’s Hospital, where she underwent surgery on Saturday evening. She was in a critical condition on Sunday.

“Today we are reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all round outstanding human and so much more,” Good’s family said in their statement,

“We appreciate the well wishes and thoughts of members of the Australian public who have expressed an outpouring of love for Ashlee and our baby girl.

“We can report that after hours of surgery yesterday our baby is currently doing well. We are so grateful for the expert care and attention of the medical team at Sydney Children’s Hospital.”

The family also thanked the two men who “held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not”.

“Words cannot express our gratitude.”

According to the ABC, the family said they were struggling to come to terms with what had happened, and asked for peace and privacy to work through their loss.

Webb said the man who was killed in the stabbing was understood to be a security guard.

The guard has been identified as Faraz Ahmed. The Australian Pakistani National Association paid tribute to him on Facebook, calling him a “courageous Pakistani national”.

The Sydney Morning Herald identified another victim as Dawn Singleton, the 25-year-old daughter of businessman John Singleton and lawyer Julie Martin.

Singleton, known as ‘Dawnie’, had a degree in communications and worked in e-commerce.

She was due to get married to her long-time partner later this year, Australian media reported.

Jade Young, a successful architect and mother of two girls, was also identified by the Sydney Morning Herald as a victim of the stabbing.

Young specialised in building conservation and worked on heritage buildings in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

She was also an active member of the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club.