The parents of Sydney killer Joel Cauchi who fatally stabbed six people as part of a “psychotic” massacre in Australia have issued an apology to his victims and their families.
The 40-year-old was himself shot and killed by an officer after knifing five women and one man, and injuring several others, including a nine-month-old baby at Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction on Saturday.
Andrew Cauchi, Joel’s father, stepped outside the family home where he issued an apology, saying he was “heartbroken and extremely sorry” earlier today (April 15).
Mr Cauchi, 76, told Sky News cameras: “I’m extremely sorry, I’m heartbroken for you. This is so horrendous that I can’t even explain it. I can’t have an intelligent conversation because I’m just devastated.
“I love my son, I made myself a servant to my son when I found out he had a mental illness, I became his servant, I did everything because I love that boy.”
“To you he is a monster, but to me he is a very sick boy.” His mother, Michelle Cauchi described the situation as a “parents’ nightmare”.
She added: “My heart goes out to the people my son has hurt. If he was in his right mind, he’d have been absolutely devastated.” Joel is said to have suffered from a mental health illness since he was a teenager.
Mrs Cauchi said her son had “lost touch with reality” as he embarked on his 30 minute rampage on innocent members of the public. Just minutes before he erupted in violence, Australian press say he was seen walking into the mall with a knife.
Anthony Cooke, the assistant commissioner of New South Wales Police Force, told a press conference this weekend of Cauchi’s last known movements.
He said: “A man walked into Westfield Bondi Junction, he left the centre very shortly after he returned at about 3.20pm. As he moved through the centre he engaged with about nine people.
“It’s clear that during that engagement he caused harm to those people stabbing them with a weapon he was carrying.”
South Wales Police are now working on a theory he deliberately targeted women in his rampage after his father claimed he “wanted a girlfriend”.
The six victims, now all named, are retail store worker Dawn Singleton, 25, mum-of-two Jade Young, 47, Ashlee Good, 38, who died trying to shield her nine-month old baby from the attacks, security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, and student Cheng Yixuan, 25.
Faraz Tahir was the only man among the victims who died while trying to protect others. He had come to Australia from Pakistan just a year ago, and had only worked at the shopping centre for one week when he lost his life.
Investigators are not treating the incident as terrorism-related and have spoken to Cauchi’s family, Sky News reports.
NSW assistant police commissioner Mr Cooke said at a press conference: “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.
“There is still, to this point… no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation – ideology or otherwise.”
Tyler Mitchell