Steph Deschamps / April 18, 2024
A few days after the terrible knife attack that claimed the lives of 6 people, including a baby, in Sydney, we now know a little more about the attacker, Joel Cauchi. The man was 40 years old and had only moved to the Australian city a month ago. While there were many doubts about the killer's psychological profile , things now seem clearer. Joel Cauchi has a "long history of psychological problems", with character traits akin to schizophrenia.
At present, police are still unsure of the motive for the murder, but psychological problems may well have been at the root of his act. According to several Australian media reports, the man was so obsessed with knives that his parents decided to take them away from him. Several Internet users also discovered that the man had posted a rather disturbing message in 2020 on his Facebook wall: "Hi, I'm looking for people who shoot guns, including pistols, to meet me and chat. Feel free to message me if you can help. »
Although Joel's family had been well aware of his psychological problems since he was a teenager, they had no idea that their loved one would commit such an atrocious act.
In his last Facebook post 6 days before the attack, we can see that the man was even offering strangers to join him on the beach to learn to surf with him for free: "Hi, I'm going surfing at Bondi this afternoon, if anyone wants to meet up to surf together!" he had written... The police investigation will no doubt bring more explanations and clarifications on the killer's motivations in the coming weeks.