Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing murders: What we know so far
A lone knifeman sent shoppers in Bondi Junction fleeing in terror on Saturday. Seven people are now dead, including the attacker. This is what we know so far.
NSW
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A lone man sent Sydney shoppers fleeing in terror after moving through Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday and using a long knife to stab anyone with whom he came into contact.
Seven people are now dead, including the attacker himself, in what has become the single deadliest attack in Sydney since the Lindt Cafe terror attack 10 years ago.
As authorities scramble to piece together how the tragedy unfolded, families are coming to terms with senseless loss of the innocent victims who were simply enjoying the first Saturday of the autumn school holidays in Sydney.
This is what we know so far >>>
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SATURDAY, APRIL 13
12:21pm: CCTV from inside Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Noodle shows Bondi Junction killer Joel Cauchi flicking through menu pages and ordering a chicken curry.
3:10pm: CCTV shows the attacker entering Bondi Junction Westfield before leaving shortly after.
3:20pm: The attacker re-enters the shopping complex carrying a 30cm knife. Wearing a Kangaroos ARL jersey, the man begins his rampage. He approaches and kills three women and one man with the knife. Nine other shoppers, including first-time mum Ash Good and her nine-month-old daughter Harriet, are rushed to hospital in serious or critical conditions.
3:30pm: Frantic retail staff across the complex do their best to usher shoppers inside stores before barricading the doors. An alarm is sounded, urging shoppers to flee the centre. One shopper pics up a bollard and meets the knifeman on an escalator in an attempt to stop him going further.
3:40pm: About 200 police from the Tactical Operations Unit storm the centre and begin hunting the knifeman. Tearful witnesses recalled seeing the attacker make his way through Myer, outside Kmart and Zara, stabbing at people outside Peter Alexander and Boost Juice.
4:00pm: A female senior police officer who was near Bondi Junction Westfield as triple-0 calls began pouring in responded instantly. With the help of distressed shopper she moved through the complex before coming face-to-face with the killer on the fifth floor. Witnesses said the officer only had time to yell “put it down” before the knifeman charged her. The officer fired one bullet into the man’s chest before immediately moving to perform CPR. The attacker was declared dead at the scene.
6:00pm: NSW Premier Chris Minns, who is holidaying in Japan, speaks out against the attack and makes immediate plans to return to Sydney. I am horrified to hear about the events at Bondi Junction,” Mr Minns said. “I want to thank NSW Police, emergency services and first responders and the community for their bravery in the face of this shocking incident.”
7:00pm: Shoppers who locked themselves in storerooms and cupboards across Bondi Junction Westfield continue to be led out of the centre by police in small groups. They are told the entire complex has been declared a crime scene and no-one would be able to retrieve vehicles from car parks until Sunday.
7:20pm: It is confirmed mother Ash Good became the sixth fatal victim of the attack after succumbing to her injuries shortly after arriving at hospital. Baby Harriet remains in a serious condition at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, in the care of medical staff and relatives who rushed there.
7:30pm: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is briefed on the attack by Australian Federal Police before addressing the media. “For all of us tonight, the devastating scenes at Bondi Junction are beyond words or understanding,” Mr Albanese said. “Australians will be shocked this evening. This was a horrific act of violence indiscriminately targeted at the innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday, doing their shopping.”
8:30pm: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb holds a press conference where she announces the perpetrator was believed to be a 40-year-old man but had yet to be formally identified. He was known to law enforcement, Commissioner Webb said. Police announce they are confident the stabbing spree was not a terror attack.
9:00pm: The NSW Police, the Australian Federal Police and the director general of ASIO were all undergoing briefings on the case on Saturday night.
SUNDAY, APRIL 14
8:35am: NSW Police named the man responsible for the horor stabbing attack as Joel Cauchi. The 40-year-old was originally from Queensland and had been living in Sydney for some time.
9:00am: The daughter of millionaire businessman John Singleton is named as one of the victims of the attack. Dawn Singleton, 25, was killed as she walked through the busy shopping centre. She was due to marry a NSW Police officer in coming months.
9:10am: At least four bodies in red bags were wheeled out of the shopping centre by police as a flower shrine was created on Oxford Street to commemorate the victims.
10:30am: More details about the Bondi killer are revealed, including how he suffered from schizophrenia and had an obsession with knives.
11:25am: One on duty Westfield security guards is confirmed as being among the victims of the stabbing rampage at Bondi Junction.
3:30pm: Sydney architect Jade Young is identified as the third victim of the massacre.
4:45pm: Westfield security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, is named as the Joel Cauchi’s fourth victim.
5:30pm: The family of Joel Cauchi break their silence. In a statement released on their behalf by Queensland police, Cauchi’s parents, Andrew and Michele, said Joel’s actions were “truly horrific”. “We are in contact with both the NSW Police Force and Queensland Police Service and have no issues with the police officer who shot our son,” they said.
6:15pm:Pikria Darchia has been named as the fifth stabbing victim. The 55-year-old Bondi Junction woman was killed on Saturday along with five other shoppers at the Westfield complex.
7pm: Shoppers evacuated from Bondi Junction Westfield queued into the night on Sunday evening as they awaited access to their cars.
Police informed shoppers on Saturday the entire complex had been declared a crime scene and no-one would be permitted access to vehicles parked at Westfield until Sunday.
MONDAY, APRIL 15
7:30am: The crime scene was finalised and is back in the hands of Westfield Bondi Junction when the centre reopens.
Floral tributes are growing outside the Westfield shopping centre where 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi went on a stabbing rampage before being shot dead by a police officer.
NSW Police confirmed that the crime scene has finalised at the shopping centre and it is in the process of being handed back to Bondi Junction.
8am: The sixth victim of the Bondi Junction stabbing attack has been identified as a Chinese national who was believed to be studying in Australia.Yixuan Cheng has been named as the sixth person to have died at the hands of Joel Cauchi’s frenzied stabbing attack at the Westfield shopping centre.
9pm: Mass murderer Joel Cauchi Googled knives and “how to kill” before he stabbed six people to death.
Cauchi, a paranoid schizophrenic, had a “fixation with killing” and a “fixation with knives” police reportedly told A Current Affair crime editor Simon Bouda.
“Initially, everyone thought this was a man suffering from schizophrenia whose mind has snapped, words in his head,” Bouda explained on Monday night’s ACA.
TUESDAY, APRIL 16
7am: Governor-General David Hurley and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were among the mourners in the aftermath of the stabbing.
It was also revealed radio stars Kyle Sandilands and Ray Hadley were among those with personal links to the tragedy.
8am: Westfield Bondi Junction was expected to reopen to the public in the coming days after loved ones are given the opportunity to mourn at the centre.
Police have finished forensically analysing the shopping centre.
8pm: Confirmation Ash Good’s daughter, Harriet, had been moved out of ICU onto a ward. Her condition was downgraded from critical to serious but stable.
Originally published as Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing murders: What we know so far
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