Here are the latest updates on the stabbing that occurred in Westfield Bondi Junction, in Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs, on April 13.
The sprawling multi-storey complex is a major transport and shopping hub in the area, and a short distance from the world-famous Bondi Beach.
The doors have re-opened at a Sydney shopping centre that was the scene of Australia's worst mass killing in years.
But there were no customers and shutters on stores remained closed as the site became a place of quiet—and sometimes emotional—reflection while hundreds mourned the six people killed in the stabbing.
Members of the public were allowed to return to Westfield Bondi Junction, in the city's eastern suburbs, on April 18 for the first time since the attack, which happened during April 13 afternoon trade at the start of the school holidays.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the reflection day is an opportunity to “turn the page on what has been a very difficult period,” adding that many people wanted to express solidarity and sincere condolences to those that have lost loved ones.
In the midst of so much violence and anxiety in the community, there’s been an overwhelming public response to the suffering of those families, he noted.
“It's wonderful to see that we are a community that can come together, that we're a community that can stand together in difficult periods and show that that grief is universal,” Mr. Minns said at a press conference in Sydney on April 18.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Thursday morning attended the memorial at Bondi Junction and paid respects to the victims of the brutal stabbing.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Dutton said it’s “repugnant enough that people are targeted but in the case where women are targeted or children are the victims, there’s a particular chord that strikes in the community.”
“I’m honoured to be here today to pay respect to those who have lost their lives, to honour the very many brave acts, and to be part of the healing process and the unifying process that must happen for our country after a period of grief and horror like this,” he said.
The hero who fought the Bondi stabber with a bollard will be given permanent residency of Australia today, while a Pakistani guard who was seriously injured when trying to stop the attacker will likely be granted a similar offer.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on April 18 confirmed that Frenchman Damien Guerot—whose visa was reportedly due to expire in a month—will have the right to stay in the country permanently.
Authorities have flagged tighter police control around Bondi Junction and NSW following the Bondi attack.
Mr. Minns said adding extra police is “not just for the immediate security needs, but so that people feel confident and safe tin their community.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said a permanent memorial would be set up near the site of the stabbing spree on Saturday, April 13.
Meanwhile, a candlelight vigil will also be held on the southern side of Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on Sunday (April 11) to commemorate the victims of the attack.
“I hope they can draw some strength from the fact that there's many people that are standing with them during this time,” Mr. Minns said on April 18.
Westfield shopping centre in Bondi is reopening today for the community to participate in a shopping-free day of reflection.
Elliott Rusanow, chief executive of Westfield owner Scentre Group, said Westfield Bondi Junction would remain on "quiet time" setting, with no music and black ribbons displayed on advertising boards to honour the victims of the deadly attack on April 13.
“Returning back to a place of trauma, tomorrow’s reflection day, I think it’s a recognition that things are different,” the Scentre Group boss said.
Wednesday, April 17
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has given social media platforms 24 hours to remove graphic video and images of the massacre at the Bondi Westfield shopping centre that occurred on Saturday and Monday night’s Sydney church stabbing.
She said the action related to material that depicted “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail.”
People also captured brief videos during the Bondi attack, including shoppers performing CPR on victims, along with photos—one showing the alleged attacker just after he'd been shot by police.
Westfield Bondi will be re-opened in phases on Thursday, April 18, for a Community Reflection Day.
Members of the public are invited to visit the shopping mall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be offered black ribbon commemoration pins to wear as a symbol of solidarity with the victims and their families, according to the Scentre Group.
Retailers will not be trading on this day, and the centre will remain on "quiet time" settings.
A nine-month-old baby girl who was stabbed during a brutal knife attack on April 13 in Bondi Westfield has been removed from intensive care and remained in serious but stable condition.
She received surgery at Sydney Children's Hospital after stab wounds in chest and arm, according to NSW Health. The baby has been moved to a ward.
Her mother, Ashlee Good, an osteopath from Melbourne, was killed when trying to protect her from knife-wielding Joel Cauchi.
Tuesday, April 16
The Queensland government is looking at introducing tougher laws around knife crime prevention following the Bondi stabbing rampage, but the civil liberties council warned the government must be careful not to trample on individual rights.
The legislation, also known as Jack’s laws, would give Queensland police the power to search people for weapons around public transport and in all safe night precincts without a warrant.
The Bondi shopping centre was turned into a crime scene last Saturday (April 13) when five women and a man were killed by knife-wielding Joel Cauchi in a brutal attack.
Police handed back Westfield Bondi to the Scentre Group later on Monday, and the group said it had “begun the task of preparing to re-open.”
Westfield Bondi security guard, 30-year-old Faraz Tahir, was one of the victims of the rampage.
It was his first day on the job in the shopping centre, Mr. Tahir’ friend told 7News.
Monday, April 15
Dawn Singleton, the daughter of multimillionaire John Singleton, was reportedly stabbed when going shopping for her wedding at Westfield shopping centre in Bondi Junction on April 13.
Th 25-year-old woman was due to marry her highschool sweetheart, NSW Police Officer Ashley Wildey, in the coming months.
She purchased her wedding dress in the previous week and started sending out wedding invitations to her friends and families.
The father of the Bondi attacker said he had done everything in his power to help his "very sick son."
Speaking to the reporters outside his Toowoomba home in Queensland on Monday afternoon April 15, Andrew Cauchi said the whole incident was "so horrendous, I can't even explain it."
His son, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, stabbed six people to death and wounded 12 others including a nine-month-old baby at Bondi Westfield shopping centre on April 13.
Ray Hadley, host of 2GB radio, said calling Ms. Singleton's father, businessman John Singleton, to break the news of his daughter's death was the "toughest call."
He also revealed that the fiancee and long-time childhood sweetheart of stabbing victim Dawn Singleton was one of the police officers who responded to the crime scene.
The fiancee was unaware that Ms. Singleton was one of the victims who had died at the hands of the attacker, and his colleagues apparently held him back when he arrived.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced $18 million (US$11.57 million) in funding to establish a coronial inquiry following the stabbing spree at Bondi shopping centre.
Speaking at a press conference in Sydney on April 15, Mr. Minns said the inquiry will look at not just the NSW police response and the criminal investigation surrounding the Bondi attack, but also the offender’s interactions with the NSW government, NSW Health and government agencies.
The NSW government will work with the Queensland government to obtain information about “any interactions that this man had in that state.”
The NSW Department of Health has provided an update on the condition of hospitalised victims of Bondi Junction stabbing spree on April 13.
Some patients have been discharged from the hospital, while eight others continue to receive care.
Australian Flags At Half-Mast In Honour Of Victims
In a national sign of mourning, flags at government buildings and on the Sydney Harbour Bridge are flying at half-mast.“We grieve together, as one,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a post on X (formally Twitter).
“Our community is in mourning, but know that you are not alone,” wrote NSW Premier Chris Minns. “We will emerge from this tragedy united.”
Flags on Queensland government buildings are also flying at half-mast in solidarity with “everyone affected,” Queensland Premier Steven Miles said.
Victorian Senator Raff Ciccone expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
The health status of the nine-month-old baby who was stabbed by the Bondi attacker has been upgraded from "critical" to "serious but stable," according to NSW Health Minister Ryan Park.
"Very pleasingly, I think I’ll speak on behalf of the entire nation who’s held its breath over the weekend: that young nine-month-old girl who went to the Sydney Children’s hospital is now in a serious but stable condition in intensive care," he told Sydney's radio 2GB.
Shingo Yamagami, Japanese ambassador to Australia, paid tribute to the victims of the Bondi stabbing spree on April 13.
Mr. Yamagami said he had experienced a similar incident when he was a police officer in Japan. In March 2008, a knife-wielding man went on a stabbing rampage outside a shopping mall in Tsuchiura Ibaraki Prefecture, murdering a 78-year-old man and injuring 14 other people.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation was in mourning to grieve those who lost their lives from the "senseless violence."
Providing a brief update, the prime minister revealed that four people were released from hospital overnight. Five remain in hospital, with one critically injured.
The police has revealed the identity of the last victim in the stabbing massacre in Sydney's eastern suburb—Yixuan Cheng, a 27-year-old Chinese female student studying abroad in Sydney.
Ms. Cheng was shopping at Westfield Bondi Junction when the attack took place.
According to Chinese media, the student was on the phone with her fiance in China just minutes the horror unfolded.
An innocent university student who was misidentified as the killer behind the brutal stabbing rampage at Bondi shopping mall has hit out at those who spread the misinformation, including the Seven Network.
From about 8.30 pm on April 13, Ben Cohen, a 20-year-old computing science student at the University of Technology Sydney, was wrongly named as the killer on social media, with his photo going viral online.
Channel Seven then picked up the false claims, describing him as “a 40-year-old lone-world attacker Benjamin Cohen.”
Queensland police said Joel Cauchi, the man behind a stabbing rampage in Bondi shopping centre, was known to be "itinerant." Police said he moved from Kangaroo Point and Carina in Brisbane to his family’s home in the south.
In 2020, Mr. Cauchi posted on two separate Facebook groups saying he was “looking for groups of people who shoot guns, including hand guns, to meet up with, chat with and get to know."
Police are investigating the man's life and movements in the lead-up to the brutal attack on April 13.
More Tributes Come In
The pile of bouquets, laid in tribute to the victims of the Saturday Bondi attack, is growing.
Queensland Police’s Acting Assistant Commissioner Roger Lowe said they had been in contact with 40-year-old Joel Cauchi primarily during the last four to five years, during which his mental health had declined.
Mr. Lowe revealed some more information about the attacker.
Mr. Cauchi had been diagnosed with mental illness when he was 17.
The male who died in the mass murder in Bondi Junction on Saturday is understood to be a security guard.
Answering a question from the press about the victims, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said, "There was one male murdered and five females. We understand that the one male was a security guard."
Dawn Singleton, the daughter of multimillionaire entrepreneur John Singleton, has been named as one of the victims of the horrific stabbing rampage in the Bondi Junction shopping mall.
Six innocent people were killed by knife attacker Joel Cauchi on a busy Saturday afternoon at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13.
Police have revealed Mr. Cauchi, 40, arrived in New South Wales in March from Queensland and likely had mental health issues.
Premier Chris Minns put out a formal request to the public to send in any footage of the incident to the police.
"If you have footage that you've collected on your mobile phone, give it to the New South Wales Police first rather than uploading on social media. That is critical information. It's desperately needed by New South Wales Police."
Mr. Minns urged the public to use "discretion" when uploading footage and images of the violent attack online.
Premier Chris Minns highlighted the bravery from ordinary citizens during the "worst act we've ever seen."
While there were not many positives to take from the "horrifying event," it had been "incredible" to see strangers run towards danger to help save people they didn't know.
Mr. Minns was in Tokyo when the incident occurred, prompting him to book a ticket back to Sydney and cut his visit short.
The family of Ashlee Good, the mother who tragically lost her life after handing her nine-month-old baby to two strangers, has issued a statement.
“Today we are reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all round outstanding human, and so much more,” they said.
Tributes Begin Coming In
Local residents are laying flowers in tribute to the six victims killed in the violent rampage.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro has weighed in on the Bondi rampage, saying the murderer “knew what he was doing” and was “somebody who was on a mission.”
“He was bad, not mad," he told 7News on April 14.
"There's clearly planning attached to this ... I read this morning he may have had mental health issues, but I think more information will unfold as the day progresses, in terms of his medical history as well as forensic history and so on.”
The nine-month-old baby who was one of the stabbing victims on April 13 is stabilising, according to police.
Her mother Ash Good, an osteopath aged 38, was killed in the horrifying attack in Sydney at about 3:20 p.m. while innocently shopping in the mall.
Dr. Good and the baby were both stabbed in the attack, but the dying mother put the needs of her baby first, handing her to two strangers who were brothers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese applauded the ordinary Australians on their bravery during the tragic mass stabbing.
"We also see the footage of ordinary Australians putting themselves in harm’s way in order to help their fellow citizens.
"That bravery was quite extraordinary that we saw yesterday, the best of Australians amidst this extraordinary tragedy."
The offender behind the Bondi Junction attack was a 40-year-old man from Queensland named Joel Cauchi, who came to New South Wales (NSW) in March, Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke told the media.
Mr. Cooke said the police had spoken with the attacker’s family, adding “they are collaborating with us.”
“We know that shortly after coming to Sydney he took possession of a storage facility that has been identified and we have worked to through that very small storage facility.”
Police also said they were proud of the courageous actions of the female police officer at the scene.
“And can I just say how how proud we are of the actions of the officer involved last night and she will be released receiving all the support that she requires,” Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said.
Previously, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the female police officer had shown “enormous courage and bravery.”
Speaking to the media on April 14 at 8:30 a.m., Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said there were six victims of the Bondi Junction attack which occurred at 8 p.m. on April 13. This includes “five deceased women, one man, and of course the offender”
“We're working through the process now of speaking with the families and supporting the families of those victims, two of whom I would appear to have no family in Australia.”
“In particular, a young child remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital and our thoughts obviously are also with those people and their families.”
