Sydney knife attacker Joel Cauchi killed daughter of Australian businessman John Singleton in Westfield Bondi Junction rampage

World News

By Richard Pollina

The maniac who went on a stabbing spree at an Australian shopping mall on Saturday has been identified as a Queensland native who had previous run-ins with police, according to a report.

Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people – including the daughter of multi-millionaire Australian advertising guru John Singleton – and injured at least a dozen others in the attack at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre, 9News reported Sydney, citing police.

NSW Police are investigating whether Cauchi targeted the women, but said it was an “obvious line of inquiry”.

Five women and a man – believed to be a security guard trying to stop the knife-wielding attacker – were killed, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.

Eight other people injured in the attack were women.

“At this point we do not know a motive. What we understand so far is that there is no ideological motivation,” Webb said.

Cauchi was “not known criminally” in Queensland, but had run-ins with law enforcement over “mental health-related issues”, Webb added.

Dawn Singleton, 25, was the second named victim in Cauchi’s attack, which began shortly after 3 p.m. local time at the popular shopping center, according to the outlet.

Singleton is a graduate of the University of Technology Sydney, where she majored in digital and social media, according to her LinkedIn.

Singleton had worked as an e-commerce assistant at White Fox Boutique before she was senselessly murdered.

She is the eldest daughter from Singleton’s marriage to lawyer Julie Martin, his sixth wife.

Cauchi’s killing spree ended when he was shot dead by a heroic cop, Amy Scott, a high-ranking inspector with the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, according to the media outlet.

Australian Prime Minister Anthoney Albanese praised Scott for his courage in confronting the knife-wielding attacker.

“She’s definitely a hero.” There is no doubt that she saved lives,” Albanese told reporters Saturday evening.

One of the victims, Ashlee Good, a 38-year-old mother whose baby was also stabbed in the attack, died in hospital hours after the stabbing.

Her nine-month-old daughter underwent emergency surgery and remains in critical condition, according to the media.

Good’s family released a statement expressing their grief over Good’s death.

“Today we are reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, exceptional human and so much more,” read the statement obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We appreciate the well-wishes and thoughts of members of the Australian public who have expressed an outpouring of love for Ashlee and our little girl.”