Joel Cauchi was a drifter. He slept in his car, wandered between cities, lost touch with his family. Since his teenage years, he had lived with complex mental health issues. His erratic behaviour was evident to those who encountered him, including police and health authorities.
But there is no formal record of violence in Cauchi’s history, police say; he was never even arrested. Nothing revealed about his life so far could have flagged that he would decide, one Saturday afternoon, to enter a crowded shopping centre, withdraw a knife from his backpack, and begin to stab passersby.
Sydney grappled with shock and grief on Sunday, as details emerged of Cauchi’s killing spree and his victims – women whose deaths left young children without mothers, a 20-something whose life lay ahead of her, a refugee who moved to Australia last year for a better life.
The mass of floral tributes at the entrance to the shopping centre where the 40-year-old went on his murderous rampage grew throughout the day. People who had never met the victims shed tears for them, knowing that but for the whim of chance, they could have been victims, too.
Mourners included Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who placed a wreath there alongside local MP Allegra Spender. “This is a tragedy that should never have occurred,” he said. Albanese singled out the courage of Ashlee Good, 38, who sought help for her wounded nine-month-old daughter – who is in a critical condition in Sydney Children’s Hospital – before thinking of herself, and later died. “That young mother has shown the extraordinary spirit that mothers have.”
Albanese was joined by NSW Premier Chris Minns, who flew straight back from a family holiday in Japan when he heard about the killings. Minns visited St Vincent’s Hospital, where some of the dozen wounded are recovering. Three victims remain in a critical condition in intensive care at different hospitals.
Westfield Bondi Junction remained closed on Sunday as police combed the sprawling crime scene, piecing together the final movements of Cauchi, whose killing spree – with what onlookers described as a 30cm hunting knife – ended when he was shot by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.
Scott was hailed as a hero on Sunday, both by those who witnessed her courage and by the state’s leaders. She “ran towards danger,” said Minns, and “without a shadow of a doubt, saved many, many lives … the best in this state confronted one of the worst acts we’ve ever seen.”
Two French construction workers at the shops on a Saturday afternoon have become unlikely heroes after they were
filmed attempting to stop Cauchi’s murderous rampage.
