Father of Sydney attacker said he too would have shot his son

The father of the Sydney shopping centre attacker said he too would have shot his son if he was the lone police officer who had to confront the knifeman.

Joel Cauchi fatally stabbed five women and one man during a knife attack on Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday. Cauchi’s family has voiced their support for Inspector Amy Scott, the policewoman who killed their son.

“If I was in her uniform, and this wasn’t my son… and he runs at me with a knife, I’d have to do the same thing,” said Andrew Cauchi.

Police said they believe Cauchi was targeting women specifically.

His parents confirmed their son was desperate to have a girlfriend. Karen Webb, the New South Wales police commissioner, said: “The videos speak for themselves. It’s obvious… the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.”

Mr Cauchi said yesterday he knew why his mentally unwell son had targeted women.

“Because he wanted a girlfriend and he’s got no social skills and he was frustrated out of his brain,” the 76-year-old told reporters outside his home in Queensland.

Describing his son as “very sick”, his visibly shaken father described grappling with the feelings of “loving a monster”.

The majority of the 12 people wounded in the attack were female, including a baby girl. The victims include the baby’s mother Ashlee Good (38), architect Jade Young (47), artist Pikria Darchia (55), economics student Yixuan Cheng (27) and Dawn Singleton (25), who was buying make-up for her upcoming wedding to her high-school sweetheart when she was fatally stabbed.

The male victim was Faraz Tahir, (30) an unarmed security guard on his first shift.

Cauchi grew up in a loving home, had been “top of his class” and had many friends until he was diagnosed schizophrenic at age 18, his mother Michele Cauchi said.

Aided by medication and with family support, he obtained a university degree and went on to work as an English tutor.

Since tapering off his medication, the 40-year-old had, in recent months, been homeless in Sydney where he joined escort websites to sell sexual services to both men and women.

Mrs Cauchi said that her son was likely “triggered into a psychosis”.

“This is a parent’s absolute nightmare when they have a child with a mental illness that something like this would happen,” she said.

As detectives investigated the motive, New South Wales premier Chris Minns said an inquest would consider the need to strengthen the mental health system. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2024)