Joel Cauchi, 40, the man who went on a stabbing spree in the Westfield Bondi Junction complex, seems to have targeted women. According to Sydney police, it was "obvious" that Cauchi focused on women.
Five of the six people killed were women. During the incident, several others including a nine-month-old baby girl were injured. The only man killed in the attack was a security guard, who tried to intervene.
The New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb told ABC News that, "The video speaks for themselves...It's obvious to me, it's obvious to detectives...that the offender focused on women and avoided the men."
Though the motive is unknown, Webb said that it is important that detectives spend so much time interviewing those who know him to know what was going on in his mind.
While talking to the media, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed his concern over the gender breakdown.
Meanwhile, Joel's father Andrew Cauchi had told reporters that his son had battled with mental illness and was off his medication recently. "To you, he is a monster. To me, he was a very sick boy," he said in a video.
Among the 12 people, who got injured, nine were women. Four have been discharged from the hospital, while eight continue to be in critical care.
Victims of the attack
Ashlee Good, 38, an osteopath, reportedly passed her baby to two strangers nearby before getting unconscious. Her family had issued a statement thanking the two men who held and cared for her baby.
The baby is in a stable condition, said hospital authorities.
Dawn Singleton, 25, was the daughter of well-known businessman John Singleton. She worked as an e-commerce assistant for a women's fashion outlet in Sydney. Her LinkedIn profile said that she was a communications graduate from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Faraz Tahir, 30, the only man killed in the attack, was a Pakistani refugee who worked at the mall as a security guard. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Australia said Faraz had been in Australia for less than a year.
Jade Young, 47, was a mother of two who had been an architect for more than two decades. Young lived in Bellevue Hill.
Pikria Darchia, 55, was an artist and had worked as a designer for 10 years in Tbilisi, Georgia. In Australia, she studied business administration.
Yixuan Cheng, in her 20s, a Chinese graduate student, was the final victim to be identified on Monday. The 27-year-old was studying for a master's degree in economics at the University of Sydney. According to Sydney Today, Cheng talked to her fiance, Wang, in China just minutes before the attack. Wang said the pair had planned to marry after Cheng graduated.
According to police, a special strike force has been created to investigate the incident. Though Cauchi was known to the police, he was not arrested or charged in his home state of Queensland.
(With agencies inputs)
