Police have identified the man who killed six people in a knife attack in Sydney

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SYDNEY – Police have identified an attacker who stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center before being shot dead by a police officer.

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New South Wales police said on Sunday that 40-year-old Joel Cauchi was responsible for the Saturday afternoon attack at the Westfield shopping center in Bondi Junction, on the city's eastern edge and not far from world-famous Bondi Beach.

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NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cook told reporters at a news conference on Sunday that Cauchi suffered from unspecified mental health issues and that police investigators did not believe the attack was terrorism-related.

“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender, but at this stage it is clear to us that the mental health of the person involved in this incident is very serious,” Cook said.

“There's no information that we've received so far, no evidence that we've recovered, no intelligence that we've gathered that indicates that this was motivated by any specific motivation — ideological or otherwise,” he added.

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The attack at the mall, one of the nation's busiest centers and a hub of daytime activity especially in the warm fall, began around 3:10 p.m., and police were quickly called.

Six people – five women and one man, aged between 20 and 55 – were killed in the attack, and 12 others are in hospital, including a 9-month-old child whose mother died in the attack.

Two of the six victims were from overseas and had no family in Australia, Cook said on Sunday.

Videos circulating online show scores of people fleeing as a knife-wielding man walks through a Kochi mall and attacks people.

In other footage, a man can be seen standing up to the attacker on an escalator at the mall, holding what appears to be a foothold.

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Cauchi was shot dead by a lone police officer at the scene.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the officer was “certainly a hero” whose actions saved many lives.

“An excellent inspector who, at the risk of himself, eliminated the danger to others without thinking about it,” he said.

“We also see ordinary Australians putting themselves in harm's way to help their fellow countrymen. What we saw yesterday was very special,” he added.

The mall will remain closed Sunday and will be an active crime scene for several days, police said.

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