Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing LIVE UPDATES: Bondi Junction killer Joel Cauchi’s motive revealed – as police source claims he was ‘definitely targeting women’

The Channel Nine star struggled to maintain her composure while speaking about the Westfield Bondi Junction tradedy during the news bulletin shortly after 8am on Monday.

Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo took over reading the bulletin as an emotional Boney teared up.

Boney returned to air shortly afterwards.

‘I think as well, you know, knowing th

at there were so many women affected, yeah, it’s really hard,’ she explained.

‘you see people that you love and the friends of friends and it’s really tough. And you think about their, their families as well and having to pick up the pieces.’

Police believe killer Joel Cauchi was ‘targeting women’ when he fatally stabbing six people in a horror rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction, the NSW Police Commissioner said.

Cauchi, 40, murdered six innocent people and left others critically injured after he entered the shopping centre wielding a 30cm knife on Saturday at about 3.20pm.

Commissioner Karen Webb said it was ‘obvious’ Cauchi was targeting women.
‘It’s obvious to me… The offender focused on women and avoided the men’.

Police believe killer Joel Cauchi was ‘targeting women’ after fatally stabbing six people in a horror rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction.

Anthony Albanese was asked on ABC Radio National on Monday morning whether he believed gender was a motivation for Westfield Bondi Junction killer Joel Cauchi.

‘NSW Police have said they’re looking at that as part of the investigation,’ he told RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas.

‘The gender breakdown is, of course, concerning.

Karvelas pushed him on concerns that the offender could have engaged with misogynist networks, and whether that needed to be examined.

‘All of that investigation will take place; it will be comprehensive, and nothing will not be looked at in this matter,” Albanese said.

Mr Albanese also praised NSW Police officers and heroic bystanders who responded to the unfolding incident on Saturday.

A review into the security response will be launched.

‘There will be a time of course for us to have a considered response to any security lessons that need to be learnt from an incident such as this,’ Mr Albanese said.

The busy shopping centre will remain shut on Monday.

Photos from the scene show the centre cordoned off with police tape and surrounded by a growing shrine of tributes.

Locals were also at the scene to show their respects.

NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott has opened up on the moment she confronted 40-year-old knifeman Joel Cauchi.

Police Inspector Scott gunned down Cauchi, bringing an end to his rampage that killed six innocent people at Bondi Junction Westfield’s shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.

Inspector Scott entered the Westfield by herself, sprinting through the top level of the complex before coming face-to-face with Cauchi, who was brandishing a 30cm knife.

Witnesses said Inspector Scott yelled at Cauchi ‘put it down’ before he lunged at her, and she fired, shooting him in the chest.

Police Association of NSW boss Kevin Morton said on Monday that Inspector Scott was ‘content’ with her actions and did not consider herself to be a hero.

‘Amy is content with what she had to do,’ Mr Morton said.

Dawn Singleton, 25 – who is the daughter of multi-millionaire advertising guru John Singleton – was due to marry her high school sweetheart, NSW Police Officer Ashley Wildey, in coming months.

Ms Singleton’s life was tragically cut short, along with five other shoppers, when she was stabbed at Bondi Junction Westfield by Joel Cauchi, 40, on Saturday afternoon, while shopping for her wedding.

Mr Wildey, who was reportedly on call, scrambled to the shopping centre to assist police colleagues with the unfolding situation.

A Chinese national has been identified as the sixth fatality in the Bondi Junction stabbing attack.

Yixuan Cheng, 27, an economics student at the University of Sydney, was fatally killed after Joel Cauchi, 40, fatally stabbed six people and injured at least 12 more in a violent rampage at the busy shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.

Cheng’s parents told Chinese media their daughter was still on the phone with her fiance, who is based in China, a few minutes before the tragedy.

Before the attack, she was on the fourth floor of the mall, shopping and sending her boyfriend photos of herself trying on clothes.

After ending the call to his girlfriend, her boyfriend saw the news about the stabbing attack in Sydney.

He immediately called her again, but she didn’t answer.  He had been planning to marry Cheng after she graduated this year.