Mall stabbing victim had been talking to partner; when he rang her back, there was no answer

• Published date: 16 April 2024
• Author: Raphael Franks and Rachel Maher
• Publication title: Whanganui Chronicle

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

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

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

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

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 5pm (NZT) 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 an artist.

Darchia was also a mother to two sons.

In total, seven people died. This includes the attacker, 40-year-old Cauchi, who was shot dead by a policewoman after he lunged at her inside the mall. A further 12 people went to hospital.

The policewoman who stopped him was identified.

Inspector Amy Scott was hailed by her boss for showing “enormous courage and bravery” when she responded to the Bondi Junction Westfield attack alone.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said there was “no ideological motive” behind Cauchi’s frenzied attack. But she and Queensland Health, the state’s public health service, confirmed he had a history of mental health treatment and was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17.

He was originally from Brisbane and in 2020 he posted on social media asking to meet people who shoot guns. He had a particular interest in knives, once calling the police on his family after they took knives away from him.

Cauchi was estranged from his family, who...