Australia

All six victims and attacker named, motive investigated

April 15, 2024 10:41 am

[Source: 7News]

One of the victims of the Sydney mall stabbing rampage was on the phone to her boyfriend when the attack happened.

Nine News Australia reported that Yixuan Cheng, a Chinese national student, was the sixth person to have died in Joel Cauchi’s murderous rampage through the Westfield shopping centre at Bondi Junction.

Cheng, 27, was shopping for clothes and sending photos to her partner in China, Daily Mail Australia reported.

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Her parents told Chinese media that after ending the call to his girlfriend, he saw the news about the stabbing attack in Sydney soon afterwards and tried calling her back.

She never answered. The couple were planning to get married after Cheng graduated from her studies this year.

Cheng was an economic students studying at the University of Sydney.

The first two victims to be named were 25-year-old Dawn Singleton and 38-year-old Ash Good, the mother of a 9-month-old girl who was also injured during the attack just after 3pm (Australian time) on Saturday. The little girl is fighting for her life in hospital.

The third victim was identified as Jade Young, 47, a mother to two daughters and an active member in her community in Bellevue Hill in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The fourth was a refugee from Pakistan, 30-year-old Faraz Ahmed Tahir. He was a security guard at the mall and the only man killed.

Pikria Darchia, 55, was the fifth victim identified. Darchia is originally from Tbilisi in Georgia and the Sydney Morning Herald reported a LinkedIn profile suggests she was an artist.

Darchia was also a mother to two sons. On her Facebook page, ordinary members of the public left comments on her page, with one woman writing: “Your life was stolen too soon. Condolences to your friends and family grieving you.”

Australian police are investigating whether Cauchi was targeting women, as most of his victims were female and there were reports he spared other men during the knife rampage.