Beijing [China], April 15 (ANI): A Chinese woman is among five females who died after a 40-year-old man brutally stabbed people at a busy shopping centre in Sydney’s beach suburb of Bondi, Hong Kong based publication, The Standard reported.
The Chinese woman, 27, was notably a student in Australia.
Citing the Chinese State TV, The Standard reported that another Chinese citizen was also injured in the attack atBondi Junction Westfield.
Witnesses recounted how 40-year-old attacker Joel Cauchi (who acted alone) rushed through the mall while brandishing a knife while sporting shorts and an Australian national rugby league jersey. Inspector Amy Scott killed him when she met him alone while he was going crazy, according to The Standard.
Earlier today, the Australian Police has said that the Sydney shopping centre attack specifically targeted women, reported Al Jazeera. In the brutal stabbing incident that took place on Saturday afternoon, five women and a man were killed.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Monday stated that it was “obvious” that the suspected attacker, Joel Cauchi, targeted women.
“It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest that the offender focused on women and avoided the men,” Webb told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), according to Al Jazeera.
According to Webb, investigators interrogated Cauchi’s acquaintances in an effort to obtain “some insight into what he might have been thinking.”
The victims’ gender distribution, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is “concerning”.
Notably, those killed were identified as a 55-year-old designer, a 47-year-old architect and volunteer surf lifesaver, the 25-year-old daughter of an entrepreneur, a 38-year-old new mother, along with the Chinese woman.
The sixth deceased, a male, was a 30-year-old Pakistani security guard, who was killed, while reportedly trying to stop the attacker.
In remembrance of the victims, Australia’s national flag has been flown at half-mast at significant locations, including at Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and Parliament House. (ANI)
