Sydney knife attacker had mental health issues, ideology not motive, police say

Police officers and emergency service workers are seen at Bondi Junction after multiple people were stabbed inside the eastern suburbs shopping centre in Sydney, April 13, 2024. AAP Image/Steve Markham via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) -The man who fatally stabbed six people in Sydney had mental health issues in the past and there is no indication ideology was a motive in the attack in one of the city's busiest shopping centres, police said on Sunday.

The attacker, identified by police as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, was known to police in the neighbouring state of Queensland, and police have spoken to his family after Saturday's attack, according to police from New South Wales and Queensland states.