Sydney knife attacker appears to have targeted women, police say

FILE PHOTO: A view of a police car outside Westfield Bondi Junction as the mall remains under lockdown following Saturday’s stabbings in Sydney, Australia April 14, 2024. REUTERS/Alasdair Pal/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) -The man who fatally stabbed six people at a mall in Sydney's beachside suburb of Bondi seems to have targeted women, police said, as the attacker's father opened up about his son's long history of mental illness and frustrations with women.

Clad in shorts and an Australian national rugby league jersey, Joel Cauchi, 40, roamed through the busy Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday with a large knife. Five of the six people he killed were women as were the majority of the 12 injured.