Bondi Junction stabbing as it happened: NSW Police identify Joel Cauchi as attacker; John Singleton’s daughter among multiple dead in Sydney’s eastern suburbs

Here’s where we will leave today’s rolling coverage of the Bondi Junction stabbings.

It’s been a harrowing day of news, and we’ve learnt a lot more about what took place inside the Westfield shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.

Here are the developments we covered:

• Queensland man Joel Cauchi, 40, murdered six people by stabbing them with a knife inside Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday afternoon. The attacker was shot dead by a lone police officer. About a dozen other victims were taken to hospital with stab wounds.
• Cauchi was wearing a Kangaroos rugby league jersey and brandishing what onlookers described as a 30-centimetre hunting knife. He walked into the shopping centre about 3.20pm and began the deadly attack.
• The victims include Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, 30, Pikria Darchia, 55, and another woman who is still unnamed.
• Police said there was no evidence the attack was terrorism-related, and it appeared to be linked to Cauchi’s mental health. Cauchi arrived in NSW about a month ago, with Queensland Police confirming he was known to police but had never been charged with a crime.
• Police have promised a “lengthy and precise” investigation to establish exactly what happened. Police also confirmed that a gender-based attack was being considered as a potential motive, given the disproportionate number of women killed.
• Two French construction workers, dubbed the ‘bollard men’, became unlikely heroes after they were filmed attempting to stop Joel Cauchi’s murderous rampage with bollards and chairs.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns and local MP Allegra Spender laid floral tributes at a makeshift memorial on the scene. In an earlier press conference, Albanese said the attacks had shocked the nation, while Minns described them as horrifying and violent.
• Flags across Australia will be flown at half-mast on Monday, and the Sydney Opera House will be lit up with a tribute on Monday evening.

The Herald’s chief reporter Jordan Baker has aptly summarised the mood in Sydney in the aftermath of the horrifying attacks in the Bondi Junction Westfield.

She writes:

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.

Read Baker’s story of the killer, his victims and a city in shock at this link.

Waverley Council has provided Bondi locals with a community update, including details for the retrieval of the cars of shoppers who fled on foot during the attacks.

The council confirmed that Westfield Bondi Junction would remain closed until further notice, with the area surrounding the shopping centre still barricaded.

The bus stops between the Westfield towers also remain closed.

As for vehicle collection, those who left their cars in the centre’s underground parking were told to come to the corner of Grosvenor and Grafton Street, where they would find information and staff who would help them retrieve their cars.

Bondi Beach lifesaver Andy Reid was one such shopper whose car was stuck inside the Westfield.

After risking his life to provide first aid to multiple victims, Reid left the site on foot and covered in blood.

“I walked down Bondi Road because obviously I couldn’t get my car out of there,” Reid told the Herald.

Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station has been illuminated in white in memory of the victims of the Bondi Junction attacks.

The station is one of many buildings that have been lit-up across Melbourne.

Flinders Street Station illuminated in white as a tribute to those who tragically lost their lives in the knife attack in Sydney.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

The Sydney Opera House will project a memorial on its sails on Monday night.

Pikria Darchia has been named as a victim of the Bondi Junction stabbings.

NSW Police confirmed the 55-year-old as the fourth female victim and fifth victim overall.

Pikria Darchia is the fifth victim to be identified in the Bondi Junction stabbings.Credit: NSW Police

Darchia is originally from Tbilisi in Georgia, and a LinkedIn profile suggests she was an artist.

At 6pm this evening, a vigil commemorating the lives lost in the Bondi Junction stabbings will be held outside the Westfield, where the attacks took place.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community have invited mourners to come together for silent prayers at the Oxford Street site where a makeshift memorial has been erected.

Faraz Tahir, the security guard who was killed in the attacks, was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Those wanting to share tributes have also been invited to contribute to the NSW government’s online condolence book.

The flower memorial at Bondi Junction.Credit: Oscar Colman

Flags across Australia will be flown at half-mast on Monday to honour the victims of the Bondi Junction stabbing.

The Commonwealth Flag Network confirmed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had requested the move, with the instruction being handed down for all Australian government buildings and establishments to lower their flags.

The Parliament House flag at half-mast after the death of the Queen.Credit: Getty

Private institutions and homes are also welcome to lower their flags.

It’s also been reported that the Opera House sails will be lit with a black ribbon to honour the victims on Monday evening.

Our graphics and video teams have put together a detailed visual break down of the Bondi Junction attacks, using floor plans, CCTV and witness testimony to tell the story of the tragedy.

Joel Cauchi stabbed up to 18 people as he roamed the shopping centre, chasing and lunging at some people and seeming to veer away from others. Six people were killed and 12 received treatment in hospitals. Most of those killed and injured are women.

Joel Cauchi entered Westfield Bondi Junction with a large knife. Within 25 terrifying minutes, he had rampaged from floor to floor, killing six people.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong

Police are still piecing together all of Cauchi’s movements, but our deep dive provides an up-to-date explanation of everything we know so far.

The “Bollard men”, the heroic shoppers who used a bollard to try to stop Joel Cauchi from attacking fellow customers, have been identified as French construction workers Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot.

Silas DespreauxCredit: Instagram

Footage from the shopping centre under siege shows Guerot standing at the top of an escalator brandishing a bollard as Cauchi advances; later footage appears to show the two men wielding a metal cafe chair as he and others sprint after Inspector Amy Scott towards Cauchi.

The friend said Despreaux had called him after the incident and said he was coping well.

“He’s OK. It’s a very strange thing for someone. I haven’t had much of a chance to speak to him since. He has been busy with police, I think.”

The friend had been with Despreaux and Guerot on Saturday morning, and said he was in a state of shock.

“I can’t believe it, it’s like something off TV.”

Despreaux has lived in Sydney for several years, and works for a small St Leonards-based construction firm. He owns a dog, the friend said, and is a keen motorbike rider.

The family of the Bondi Junction stabbing perpetrator, Joel Cauchi, have released a statement to the media.

The statement reads:

We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday.

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.”

The Cauchi family also requested privacy.