Sydney stabbing: Police investigate whether attacker targeted women – live

The Australian national flag is flying at half-mast across the country today, including at the parliament house and Sydney‘s Harbour Bridge, in honour of the victims.

Sydney Opera House’s sails will be lit with a black ribbon on Monday evening.

Scores of mourners have gathered at Bondi Junction, offering flowers and cards in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the attack.

“She was a Chinese national studying here who’s lost her life, along with Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton, Jade Young, Pikria Darchia and the security guard who lost his life, a refugee who had only been here for a short period of time,” he said in an interview with Triple M radio.

As more information on the terrifying attack continues to come to light, my colleague Athena Stavrou has everything we know so far in this piece:

The Sydney knife attacker advertised himself online as a male escort and tried to join groups of gun owners, it has emerged.

In a post on a Facebook group in December 2020, Joel Cauchi wrote: “I am looking for groups of people who shoot guns, including handguns, to meet up with, chat with and get to know.”

It has been reported that Cauchi had set up profiles on several male escort websites, including Australia Cracker, Empire Escorts and Escorts Australia. Cauchi described himself in one profile as an “athletic good-looking 39-year-old” based in Sydney who was looking for a “fun time”.

In a photo posted on one escort site, he is pictured sitting on a chair wearing a Manchester United football shirt.

It is a “line of inquiry” that the Sydney shopping centre attacker “focused on women and avoided the men” during his stabbing spree, New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb has said.

Asked during an interview with ABC News about CCTV footage which appeared to show knifeman Joel Cauchi targeting women, Ms Webb said: “The videos speak for themselves, don’t they, and that’s certainly a line of inquiry for us.

“It’s obvious to me and it’s obvious to detectives that it seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.

“It has been reported that five of the deceased are women and the majority of victims in hospital are also women.”

Cauchi, 40, who was known to police in the neighbouring state of Queensland, had moved to Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, last month.

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The daughter of an Australian businessman has been named as one of the six victims of the stabbing attack at a Sydney shopping centre.

According to widespread media reports in Australia, Dawn Singleton, 25, was killed in the attack at the Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction, in the east of Sydney.

John Singleton, 82, is a well-known entrepreneur in Australia who built his success through advertising. He has eight children.

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The fifth victim of the stabbing spree was identified by police as 55-year-old Pikria Darchia.

Ms Darchia described herself as an artist on her LinkedIn profile, which stated she worked in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi from 2003 to 2013 as a designer.

She then spent three years studying at Sydney’s City East Community College in Bondi Junction from 2013.

Police said the remaining victim is from overseas with no family in Australia, adding that they are attempting to contact their family.