Current Major incident at Bondi Junction

[Pamcake1]

Macron hails French 'heroes' who helped fend off Sydney mall attacker

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hailed two Frenchmen who helped to fend off a knife-wielding attacker who killed six people in a Sydney mall, calling them "real heroes."

www.france24.com

Translation of Macron:
Condolences to the Australians struck by an attack in a shopping center in Sydney on Saturday. Two of our compatriots behaved like true heroes. Very great pride and recognition.

 

[BFew]

As a former sex worker and with many male friends who are also sex workers, I found Cauchi's profiles laughable. I've even wondered if he got escort sites confused with dating sites. He used his real name, for starters, and his photographs and profile were about him being an average guy looking for fun and connection. I'd be shocked if he even got a booking. Whatever his expectations were, I doubt they were met.

He also wouldn't be the first guy to think that being on an escort site was a way to meet women and/or have casual sex. It never works out that way.

We need evidence that it was actually Cauchi that registered himself on those escort sites.
As opposed to someone else doing it as a prank or maliciously.

 

[ms finch]

I've thought a lot about anything that was odd in his behaviour when we were younger and that I might have paid more attention to but nothing stands out.

A real strange conversation in his early twenties about a Stephen King book he'd read, that unnerved me a bit and I briefly wondered if he realised it was fiction. Then I thought I probably misunderstood what he was saying.

Interesting. In your friend's case it sounds like quite late onset schizophrenia or at least that the symptoms were well masked when he was younger. What you are describing about the Stephen King book is familiar to me with my friend - there were lots of times I felt as though he was confusing fact and fiction. He was very conspiratorial from a young age, not in the overt way we often associate with schizophrenia, but just in a way that he seemed to see complexity in situations in a way that was weird. People often commented on it. He also had a general persecution complex, also from a young age, and would see motives in people that absolutely weren't there.

When my friend was 20 he saw a psychiatrist for depression and the psychiatrist put him on a trial of anti-psychotics. I believe they were quite new then. That psychiatrist didn't diagnose him with schizophrenia at that point, but when he was diagnosed I wondered if the psychiatrist suspected it because anti-psychotics always seemed a weird first choice for depression treatment.

 

[ms finch]

We need evidence that it was actually Cauchi that registered himself on those escort sites.
As opposed to someone else doing it as a prank or maliciously.

Usually escort sites require you to confirm your identity by communicating with them directly with a selfie holding a piece of paper with something they tell you to write on it, via the phone number you have provided them. There are slight variations on this, but along those lines. Of course they could be dodgy sites that don't do that, but that's the norm.

While I haven't closely checked all the apparent profiles, there are sites that simply mine the ads from other sites and repost them on their own site. So there might be three profiles, but two of them might be unauthorised copies of the original one.

I don't think it was a prank, and not just because of the process. Guys who are lonely and a bit weird do this type of thing fairly frequently. Female and male sex workers get calls from them asking for advice on how to do it, and it emerges in the conversations that they aren't looking to become any sort of professional sex worker but rather think it is a good way to socially connect and find shags. In fact they sometimes use the guise of wanting to become a sex worker to try to make friends with the sex worker they're calling as part of their attempts for social connection.

I'd be interested if people in the sex work community were contacted by Cauchi like this.

ETA: Lonely weird women do this, too, in case anyone's wondering, and in about equal measure in my and others' experience.

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

The Commissioner, detectives and his father specifically agreed that his targets were women. IMO there's no getting around it, he targeted women.

His father has given an explanation as to why. I think his father who was with him when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and who lived with him until he was 35yo, would probably know better than anybody else.

I can see no reason why it has to be one or the other, was it misogyny or was it mental illness?

It's both. imo. We can't stop people from developing a mental illness, we're going to have more success if that seems almost impossible, tackling the misogyny.

Very true.
I don’t really understand why it has to be categorised anyway, what can’t be denied is that it was a horrific incident no matter why or how.
There is no denying misogyny or an unhealthy obsession with women was a cause, but when you multiply that with paranoid schizophrenia… that’s a whole other level sadly.

 

[ms finch]

I came across this article just before and don’t believe it has been posted. It’s a longer article about the two security guards who were attacked, particular Faraz Tahir who was killed. It’s nice and very sad to learn a bit about him. I’m glad his colleague survived.

How Tahir’s late notice shift change at Bondi Junction ended in tragedy

Faraz Tahir worked nights. But on Saturday he agreed to fill in for a day shift at Westfield. These were his final moments.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Kurve]

Dr Xanthe Mallet believes Cauchi's timing going in to the shopping centre was intentional in order to maximise his choice of victims, that his selection of victims was intentional, that it was premeditated, he did plan it, not frenzied if anger and rage is there and he is making choices on who he engages with, that his intent was to commit as much carnage as possible.

A profile may be developing of a man who feels rejected and disenfranchised.

The police have said it's not terror related with no ideological motive and he was acting alone but clearly, he was there to create terror whether that was for a bigger picture or because of his own personal vendettta, not sure yet.

Here's the link if anybody wants to have a listen.

Making sense of the Bondi Junction attack - ABC listen

How did the attacker at a busy Westfield shopping centre select his victims? Police are searching for answers after the Saturday afternoon rampage at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east. A 40-year-old Queensland man, armed with a knife, made his way through the centre stabbing innocent shoppers...

www.abc.net.au

 

[ms finch]

Dr Xanthe Mallet believes Cauchi's timing going in to the shopping centre was intentional in order to maximise his choice of victims, that his selection of victims was intentional, that it was premeditated, he did plan it, not frenzied if anger and rage is there and he is making choices on who he engages with, that his intent was to commit as much carnage as possible.

A profile may be developing of a man who feels rejected and disenfranchised.

The police have said it's not terror related with no ideological motive and he was acting alone but clearly, he was there to create terror whether that was for a bigger picture or because of his own personal vendettta, not sure yet.

Here's the link if anybody wants to have a listen.

Making sense of the Bondi Junction attack - ABC listen

How did the attacker at a busy Westfield shopping centre select his victims? Police are searching for answers after the Saturday afternoon rampage at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east. A 40-year-old Queensland man, armed with a knife, made his way through the centre stabbing innocent shoppers...

www.abc.net.au

I was thinking that the theory posited that this was about suicide would fit with a lot of this.

He decides he wants to die but he wants to take people down with him, perhaps women because he's angry with them or something about them has set him off. So he plans the attack with the intention of killing people, attracting the attention of police, and ultimately being killed by the police.

This would also explain why at the end he didn't appear trying to escape or find more victims but could have been waiting for the police to corner him and ultimately shoot him.

This is something that could be motivated by anger and hatred or the product of a psychotic episode or a combination of both.

 

[BFew]

I was thinking that the theory posited that this was about suicide would fit with a lot of this.

He decides he wants to die but he wants to take people down with him, perhaps women because he's angry with them or something about them has set him off. So he plans the attack with the intention of killing people, attracting the attention of police, and ultimately being killed by the police.

This would also explain why at the end he didn't appear trying to escape or find more victims but could have been waiting for the police to corner him and ultimately shoot him.

This is something that could be motivated by anger and hatred or the product of a psychotic episode or a combination of both.

Is there any possibility that he might have left a suicide note(s) somewhere?

Like in his storage unit.

 

[ms finch]

Is there any possibility that he might have left a suicide note(s) somewhere?

Like in his storage unit.

He may have. It's hard to say if that's something police would have mentioned by now since they have searched his unit, because they may want to engage in further investigation before sharing that type of information.

I'd guess if he did leave a suicide note of sorts it would more likely be on an online forum of some sort.

So far he appears to have had very minimal communication with anyone. I'm very interested to know if that is an accurate reflection, if he was a lonely person basically wandering around Sydney in his own head making the occasional social media post and sending the occasional text, or if it will emerge that he did have a significant online presence somewhere else.

 

[BFew]

He may have. It's hard to say if that's something police would have mentioned by now since they have searched his unit, because they may want to engage in further investigation before sharing that type of information.

I would have thought that the notes and drawings reportedly found in his unit might provide some insight into his state of mind/health.
They might be tabled as exhibits at the inquest. Along with analysis of what they revealed, if anything, about him.

Police investigation reveals evidence Bondi attack was premeditated

9now.nine.com.au

'Police have also searched a storage unit used by Cauchi, where they found personal belongings including knives, notes and drawings.'

https://www.news.com.au/national/inside-bondi-killers-eerie-storage-facility/news-story/3effeecb63d91b2421115ca67034c87d

'On Monday, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said “nothing of interest” was found in the unit.'

 

[ms finch]

I would have thought that the notes and drawings reportedly found in his unit might provide some insight into his state of mind/health.
They might be tabled as exhibits at the inquest. Along with analysis of what they revealed, if anything, about him.

Police investigation reveals evidence Bondi attack was premeditated

9now.nine.com.au

'Police have also searched a storage unit used by Cauchi, where they found personal belongings including knives, notes and drawings.'

https://www.news.com.au/national/inside-bondi-killers-eerie-storage-facility/news-story/3effeecb63d91b2421115ca67034c87d

'On Monday, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said “nothing of interest” was found in the unit.'

I would think a suicide note would be something of interest, not nothing of interest. But it's also possible that she was referring to something directly and obviously of interest, and something else might emerge as they more thoroughly check the notes and drawings.

 

[ms finch]

I was thinking that the theory posited that this was about suicide would fit with a lot of this.

He decides he wants to die but he wants to take people down with him, perhaps women because he's angry with them or something about them has set him off. So he plans the attack with the intention of killing people, attracting the attention of police, and ultimately being killed by the police.

This would also explain why at the end he didn't appear trying to escape or find more victims but could have been waiting for the police to corner him and ultimately shoot him.

This is something that could be motivated by anger and hatred or the product of a psychotic episode or a combination of both.

Quoting myself because I had another thought on this.

If the intention was suicide by cop, he may have targeted people that he knew would attract significant police attention - as in, the baby and women - and also stayed away from anyone he thought would be a threat so he didn't get apprehended instead.

 

[BFew]

I would think a suicide note would be something of interest, not nothing of interest. But it's also possible that she was referring to something directly and obviously of interest, and something else might emerge as they more thoroughly check the notes and drawings.

Notes could mean documents of some kind.
Not necessarily things Cauchi had written or typed on paper of some form.

 

[BFew]

If the intention was suicide by cop, he may have targeted people that he knew would attract significant police attention - as in, the baby and women - and also stayed away from anyone he thought would be a threat so he didn't get apprehended instead.

I proposed something similar on Monday.

If the whole point of Cauchi's murderous rampage was to make sure that he got killed by Police gunfire, then his targeting of women was maybe to make sure that he did not just get arrested and incarcerated. So he targeted those he considered were unlikely to disarm him and that would be the easiest to murder, and just kept going until Police arrived and shot him dead.

 

[ms finch]

I proposed something similar on Monday.

I thought I had seen something like that in the thread already, but very hard to keep track. Yes, very similar concepts.

 

[Eaglette01]

In this article there is an interactive map - and, gives a very, very basic timeline:

This is the map:


Found on this site:

https://www.themercury.com.au/news/...e/news-story/4a10ec0a06a7ab3b210c6af9abf38761

(For those unfamiliar with the Westfield Shopping Centre)

 

[Pamcake1]

Repeated resuscitation was needed to keep Bondi stabbing victims alive

Hospitals prepare for mass casualty events. At Sydney's St Vincent's hospital, they had to enact that plan on Saturday — this is how they handled the situation.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Pamcake1]

USA Press: framing; It could have been worse with gun availability.

The Sydney Mall Attack Was Horrifying. It Could Have Been Worse

If the 40-year-old man in Bondi Junction had had a firearm, how many more people would have died?

time.com

 

[Pamcake1]

The comparison of two terror attacks and the walk back from labeling a Bondi a terrorist attack.
When a coroners investigation is completed we will have the official labelling attached.
The 'identification' / 'classification' labelling is obviously politicied.
It behoves certain stakeholders to put distance between the tragedy and the naming, if we ever get to a 'label' that suits the circumstances in the end.

Sydney is reeling from two high-profile stabbing attacks – why was only one deemed a terror incident?

Incidents at a Bondi Junction mall and at a Wakeley church have seen very different responses from police

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pamcake1]

Another look at a rabbit hole of manipulation:

Finance bros spread misinformation after Bondi attacks

Two of corporate Australia’s most aggressive tweeters were on the tools during the shopping centre massacre.

www.afr.com

 

[Pamcake1]

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/gun-shy-australia-reeling-knife-crime-weighs-public-security-settings-2024-04-17/

 

[ms finch]

The other security guard who was attacked but survived, Muhammad Taha, has also asked for a Visa.

I don't think there is any great conspiracy or discrimination here. Damien Guerot's request was mentioned in a major interview so everyone was aware of it. I don't think anyone was aware that Taha wanted one. I would be surprised if he was not granted one now that people are aware.

Heartwarming update about Bondi hero

A security guard injured in the Bondi stabbing attack has been given some very special news.

au.news.yahoo.com

 

[Kurve]

The other security guard who was attacked but survived, Muhammad Taha, has also asked for a Visa.

I don't think there is any great conspiracy or discrimination here. Damien Guerot's request was mentioned in a major interview so everyone was aware of it. I don't think anyone was aware that Taha wanted one. I would be surprised if he was not granted one now that people are aware.

Heartwarming update about Bondi hero

A security guard injured in the Bondi stabbing attack has been given some very special news.

au.news.yahoo.com

Yes I thought it was a bit unfair to give to one but not the other. I don't know if they're a couple but they both played a part and were working it together.

 

[ms finch]

Yes I thought it was a bit unfair to give to one but not the other. I don't know if they're a couple but they both played a part and were working it together.

I can't see any major downside for the government. Visas that are given at the discretion of the Minister don't establish any sort of precedent. (That's how they were able to offer visas to the Biloela family without changing their position on whether Tamils generally qualify for protection visas, an interpretation I personally disagree with - as in I think Tamils should qualify for protection visas.) There is substantial public support for the recognition of individuals who attempted to intervene.

They may consider whether someone who otherwise potentially qualify or not qualify for permanent residency down the track. If there was a specific reason a person wouldn't qualify they may not offer it, but we don't have anything to indicate that here.

There will probably be conversations about where they draw the line, though.