The family of a Queensland man who killed six people at a Sydney shopping centre have condemned his actions as “truly horrific”, and say they are still “trying to comprehend what has happened”.
Forty-year-old Joel Cauchi has been identified as the attacker who set upon people with a knife at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.
Five victims — four women and a man — died at the shopping centre. Another woman, identified as Ashlee Good, died in hospital.
Cauchi, who grew up in Toowoomba in Queensland’s south-east, was shot dead by a senior officer at the scene.
Police have been with his family since Saturday evening. The family has since released a statement in support of the officer who killed him.
“We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday,” the statement said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.
“Joel’s actions were truly horrific, and we are still trying to comprehend what has happened. He has battled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.
“We are in contact with both the New South Wales Police Force and Queensland Police Service and have no issues with the police officer who shot our son as she was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is coping alright.”
Attacker grew up in Queensland
Cauchi lived on and off with his parents on a small residential street on Toowoomba’s fringes.
For the past several years the 40-year-old was itinerant and had lived in his car and at backpacker hostels, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Roger Lowe said.
Cauchi was diagnosed with a mental illness at 17 and in recent years his mental health had declined, he added.
His family last heard from him in March, but their contact was periodic.
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be identified, told the ABC he “didn’t mix with other kids when he was young”.
Another neighbour told the ABC that he kept to himself.
“[His dad and I] had a yarn every now and then,” he said.
The ABC understands the 40-year-old graduated with a diploma of arts from the University of Southern Queensland.
When contacted, a spokesman for the university declined to comment.
Killer ‘acted alone’
In a statement, Queensland Health said Cauchi had been treated for mental health issues more than a decade ago, before his care was transferred to the private sector in 2012.
“Queensland Health extends our sympathies to everyone involved in the tragic incident in NSW,” the statement said.
“We will work with Queensland and NSW police on any information and assistance we can provide.”
Earlier, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said Cauchi had “come to the notice of law enforcement” in NSW and Queensland for “mental health-related issues”, but was not “known criminally”.
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Assistant Commissioner Lowe said there was nothing to suggest the attack had any religious, political or ideological motive “that would contribute to an individual going into a crowded place and committing a crime of this nature”.
“The information we have from the intelligence we have in Queensland… is that person involved in the horrific crime has acted alone and there is no ongoing threat to our community,” Assistant Commissioner Lowe said.
Police tracing movements
Cauchi’s interactions with Queensland police were mostly over the past four to five years.
Officers last made contact with him on the Gold Coast in December 2023 during a “street check”, which can be conducted when police “come in contact with a person that we deem sufficient to stop and speak to them regarding their behaviour”, Assistant Commissioner Lowe said.
He said Cauchi had been itinerant for the past several years and lived in the Brisbane suburbs of Kangaroo Point and Carina, as well as the home of his parents, before moving to NSW.
He had recently come to Sydney from Queensland, and had hired a “very small” storage facility which investigators have now accessed.
Just days before the attack, Cauchi — whose Facebook profile was a picture of himself with a surfboard — asked in a post sighted by the ABC whether anybody wanted to join him at Bondi for a surf.
“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” NSW Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said.
NSW police are leading the investigation into the attack, and inquiries into Cauchi’s mental health and interactions with practitioners will form part of that, Assistant Commissioner Lowe added.
“What changed from a person who is 40 and has, for a number of years, functioned in society to commit such a horrific crime, I think they’re the important questions for the NSW Police Force,” he said.
Authorities in Queensland are working closely with their interstate counterparts to share intelligence and assist with investigations, Assistant Commissioner Lowe said.
Extra police have been deployed to Queensland shopping centres today, but there is no intelligence about an “increased threat”.
“As a precaution we certainly have increased our footprint, and we’ll continue to do so to make sure that Queenslanders are kept safe,” he said.