Thousands of floral tributes placed inside Westfield Bondi Junction in memory of six people murdered there a fortnight ago will soon be removed.
Bondi Junction shopping center in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was the scene of a horrific stabbing that claimed the lives of five women and a security guard on April 13.
Joel Cauchi, 40, went on a killing spree that claimed the lives of Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton, Jade Young, Pikria Darchia, Yixuan Cheng and Faraz Tahir before heroic police officer Inspector Amy Scott confronted him and shot dead.
The tragedy sparked an outpouring of grief and community support through flowers, cards and other tributes.
The fourth level of Westfield Bondi Junction has been home to a growing sanctuary of floral tributes visited by thousands of shoppers since the center reopened its doors to the public five days after the uproar.
The growing shrine set up at Westfield Bondi Junction (pictured) in memory of the victims who lost their lives will be removed on Wednesday night.
Wreaths and other tributes will be collected and delivered to the families of the victims.
A condolence book was also installed for the public to write tributes.
Scentre Group, the company that manages the Westfield centres, has announced that flowers and tributes will be collected on Wednesday evening to create an official condolence.
Flowers and messages will be delivered to the families of the victims.
“We are grateful for the support our community has shown each other during this very difficult time for the families of the victims, the victims and those affected by the attack,” said Executive Director Elliott Rusanow.
“Starting on the afternoon of May 1, the tributes will be respectfully transferred and the messages collected to form part of the official record of condolences for the families of the victims.”
Rusanow acknowledged that the flowers and tributes to the victims were a symbol of pain and “outpouring of emotion” after the attack.
He thanked the community for their support as arrangements begin to remove the display.
A previous shrine of flowers and tributes set up in nearby Oxford St Mall while Westfield was closed immediately afterwards was removed 10 days after the attack.
Wilted flowers were covered with mulch while cards were preserved for the victims’ families.
Meanwhile, memorial services for the victims continued on Tuesday as loved ones farewelled Ms Darchia in Matraville.
Hundreds of people gathered to farewell architect and mother-of-two Ms Young last week at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
Premier Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns were among mourners when Westfield security guard Faraz Tahir was sacked at the Baitul Huda mosque in Marsden Park, western Sydney, last Friday.
The original shrine on the outskirts of Westfield (pictured) was removed last week.
Bondi Junction shopping center (pictured) hosted the floral tributes and condolence book, where people expressed their condolences.