Cops probe why Sydney mall stabber targeted women

MELBOURNE: Australian police are examining why a lone assailant who stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall and injured more than a dozen others targeted women while avoiding men, a police commissioner said. The killer’s father blamed his son’s frustration at not having a girlfriend.

Police shot and killed the homeless assailant, Joel Cauchi, during his knife attack in the Westfield Bondi Junction mall on Saturday near world-famous Bondi Beach.

Police have ruled out terrorism and said the 40-year-old had a history of mental illness.

New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said detectives would question Cauchi’s family in a bid to determine his motive. CCTV footage from the mall showed Cauchi targeted women.

“The videos speak for themselves, don’t they? And that’s certainly a line of inquiry for us,” Webb said yesterday.

“It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives that that seems to be an area of interest: that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men,” Webb added.

The attacker’s father Andrew Cauchi said he knew why his son, who suffered from schizophrenia, had targeted women.

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

“He’s my son, and I’m loving a monster. To you, he’s a monster. To me, he was a very sick boy. Believe me, he was a very sick boy,” the father added.

The only male killed was a Pakistani refugee who worked at the mall as a security guard.

Webb said most of the 12 victims who survived their wounds were also women.

Eight victims who survived their injuries remained in hospitals yesterday, including a ninemonth-old baby. The baby’s condition improved overnight Sunday from critical to serious, health authorities said.

Andrew said his son had a “fascination with knives”. The father took five military combat knives from his son while they were both living in the Toowoomba family home last year for fear they would be used for violence.

The father said his son had become angry and called police, accusing the father of theft. The knives were given to a friend for safekeeping.

“I told the police my son had schizophrenia and I’m worried for myself,” Andrew said.

“I said to my mate, ‘Why do I feel I’m going to be killed in my own house by my own son with a US combat knife?’” he added.