The man who murdered six people during a terrifying rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction asked a local for surfing lessons just months before the attack.
Joel Cauchi, 40, stabbed five women and a man to death and seriously injured 12 other people with a 30cm hunting knife at around 3.20pm on Saturday.
Cauchi was shot dead by New South Wales Police Inspector Amy Scott, who has been hailed as a hero for ending the killing spree and giving CPR to the victims.
bondi man Stefan Deutsch shared the disturbing moment when he realized he had exchanged Facebook messages with Cauchi just six months earlier.
Deutsch shared a screenshot of their brief interaction on TikTok, which began after Cauchi responded to his ad for surf lessons.
‘Hi, I’m interested in surfing lessons in Sydney, can I apply please?’ Cauchi said.
‘Hello, yes I can give you surfing lessons!’ Mr. Deutsch responded.
‘It’s free?’ —Cauchi asked.
“Hey, no, it’s not free, sorry,” Mr. Deutsch said.
Cauchi read the message but never responded.
Bondi man Stefan Deutsch (pictured) has shared the disturbing moment he realized he had exchanged Facebook messages with Bondi Junction killer Joel Cauchi.
Deutsch shared a screenshot of their brief interaction on TikTok, which began after Cauchi responded to his ad for surf lessons (pictured).
Just six days before the attack, Cauchi invited Sydneysiders to join him for surfing at Bondi Beach in a post shared on a Facebook group for beginner surfers.
‘Hi, I’m going surfing in Bondi this afternoon if anyone wants to meet up there to surf!’ he said.
Less than a week later, Cauchi would be shot dead after killing five women and a man in a violent spree of stabbings that has shocked the world.
The victims include:
Cauchi’s motives have not yet been confirmed, but New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said on Monday he appeared to target women and avoid men.
‘The videos speak for themselves, right?’ she said. ‘That is certainly a line of research for us.
“It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives that it appears to be an area of interest that the offender has targeted women and avoided men.
‘As you know and have been informed, five of the deceased are women. And the majority of hospitalized victims are also women. We do not know what was operating in the criminal’s mind and that is why it is important now that detectives spend so much time interviewing those who know him, were around him and close to him.
“So we can get an idea of what he might have been thinking.” We won’t necessarily know. But we have to judge those who know him.’
His motives have not yet been confirmed, however New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said on Monday that Cauchi (pictured) appeared to target women and avoid men.
Cauchi was known to police and had been living in Sydney sporadically for the past few years. He reportedly slept rough and had no fixed address.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17 and is understood to have a history of obsession with knives.
While living with his parents in Toowoomba, southeast Queensland, they became so concerned about his fixation that they took his knives away.
His parents, Andrew and Michelle, refused to speak to the media after previously describing the murderous attack on their son Joel Cauchi as “truly horrific”.
His parents learned of the horror when they recognized their son from television footage and made a frantic phone call to the police, but by then it was too late.
Cauchi’s parents Andrew (pictured) and Michelle refused to speak to the media after previously describing their son’s murderous attack as “truly horrific”.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the majority of Cauchi’s victims were women.
The Cauchis have lived in the Toowoomba suburb of Rockville for 46 years, and last saw their son just a few months ago, when the 40-year-old came over for Christmas.
They said in their statement they have “no problem” with the actions of Inspector Scott or those of the New South Wales Police.
“Joel’s actions were truly horrific and we are still trying to understand what happened,” the statement read.
‘He has struggled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.
“We are in contact with both the New South Wales Police and the Queensland Police Service and we have no issues with the police officer who shot our son because he was only doing his job to protect others and we hope it is resolved.” I fixed them well.”
