A knife-wielding man who went on a rampage in a mall in Australia’s Sydney on Saturday, killing six people before being taken down by a lone policewoman, has been identified.
Australian police have said the attacks by Joel Cauchi, 40, were "related to the mental health of the individual involved".
Scenes of horror unfolded at the Westfield Bondi Junction complex on what was supposed to have been a relaxed Saturday when a man suddenly began stabbing people with a long blade.
Five women and a man died. Several others, including a nine-month-old baby, were injured.
Cauchi was understood to have been from Queensland and had bought a storage unit in Sydney, various news agencies have said.
He was previously known to police.
The New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters on Sunday that families of the victims were being notified and two “appear to have no family in Australia."
The lone police officer at the mall who brought down the attacker with a single shot to the chest is being hailed as a hero.
Australian PM Anthony Albanese said the attack was “a horrific act of violence,” but “there is no doubt that she (the officer) saved lives.”
Yet unnamed, the officer did not have time to get reinforcements but managed to follow the attacker before shooting him dead.
Eight victims, including the baby whose mother died after being stabbed, were hospitalised with injuries.
People in the mall, some who fled crying and others who hid in shops, gave horrific accounts of the attacker randomly picking out people.
The baby’s mother managed to hand over her child to a man before collapsing and dying.
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