Latest news with #masskilling
CTV News
10 minutes ago
- Politics
- CTV News
RCMP says Saskatchewan commanding officer away, interim head in place
Assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, speaks during a news conference in Regina on Thursday, June 6, 2024. A report into how Mounties responded to a mass killing and manhunt in Saskatchewan has found some communication problems but nothing that significantly impacted the outcome. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards REGINA — RCMP say Saskatchewan's commanding officer will be away for an undetermined period of time effective immediately. Mounties didn't provide details on Rhonda Blackmore's absence but say assistant commissioner Robin McNeil will serve as interim commanding officer. They say the decision won't affect front-line policing and that they have confidence in all officers in the province. Blackmore took command of the Saskatchewan RCMP in April 2021, after serving various posts across Canada for 30 years. She spent her first years as an officer in the Saskatchewan communities of Assiniboia, Regina and Buffalo Narrows. In 2022, she launched the RCMP's first unit aimed at recruiting Indigenous people to ensure Mounties represent the communities they serve. She was also the public face of the force after the mass killings on James Smith Cree Nation in 2022. -This report was first published by The Canadian Press on June 4, 2025.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
The full timeline of the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing as heard in the coronial inquest
It took six minutes for countless lives to be changed on April 13, 2024. Joel Cauchi entered Westfield Bondi Junction armed with a knife towards the tail end of the school holidays, a busy period for the shopping centre. WARNING: This story contains content that readers may find distressing. He killed six people — Dawn Singleton, Jade Young, Yixuan Cheng, Ashlee Good, Faraz Tahir, and Pikria Darchia — five of whom died at the scene and one in hospital. Ten people were also stabbed but survived, before NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott fatally shot Cauchi after a tense foot pursuit. The NSW Coroners Court heard Cauchi was unmedicated for schizophrenia, and his web history showed he was "preoccupied with weapons, with violence and with mass killing" since 2022. The day will never leave the families of the victims, the witnesses, shoppers, retail staff, security, first responders, and members of the public simply in the area at the time. This is the complete chronology of how the attack happened, according to the coronial inquest that finished sitting after five weeks of hearings. A woman referred to as CR1 is the main operator inside the Westfield security control room beneath the shops, watching the centre's 706 CCTV cameras. Coming in and out throughout the day is a man known in court as CR2, who is rostered onto a "roving" shift. There are 15 security guards located throughout the centre at this time. At 2:55pm, CR2 leaves CR1 in the control room to attend a training session with Glad and Westfield operator, Scentre, in the management office above the retail stores. Cauchi had spent the day roaming Westfield, detouring to Bondi Beach before re-entering at 3:22pm. He walks across the air bridge on level 4 nine minutes later. CR1 leaves the security control room to use the bathroom, which is a few metres away from the door. The CCTV screens are now unmonitored. Forty seconds later, Cauchi stabs Dawn Singleton near Sourdough Bakery on level four. Cauchi moves a few metres south of the bakery and stabs Jade Young. He then attempts to stab a third victim, known as Witness C, outside AJE Athletica, now known as AJE Lifestyle. She retains minor scratches. Yixuan Cheng is stabbed six seconds later outside the Peter Alexander store, now the site of Stylerunner. Two more victims, known as Witness D and Witness E, are stabbed outside Cotton On and Lululemon, respectively. A second later, about 3:33:28pm, security guards Muhammad Taha and Faraz Tahir are first alerted by customers of the attacks, and call it in via radio. The pair are also on a roving shift and are standing opposite Gucci and David Jones, also on the fourth level of the centre at the time. They begin heading south, walking close together, towards the air bridge and the bakery. Another security guard spots Cauchi from level five and is believed to have called a "Code Black, Alpha" on the radio before losing sight of Cauchi. Seventh victim Witness F is then stabbed outside of Kookai. Around the time that Witness G, the eighth victim, is stabbed just inside Myer, the team in the centre management office leave to verify the incident. CR1 hears a radio broadcast from the bathroom but cannot make out what is said before returning to the security control room. Ashlee Good is stabbed by Cauchi outside of the AJE Athletica store, followed by 10th victim Witness H. CR2 takes the lift down to the underground control room to support CR1. The first emergency call to NSW Ambulance is placed by a member of the public, as Cauchi runs back past the bakery, stabbing Mr Tahir and Mr Taha. Just before 3:35pm, he also attacks Witness I and the 14th victim Witness X before stabbing Pikria Darchia outside Chanel Boutique. The 16th and last person attacked, Liya Barko, is stabbed outside Zimmeran on level three at 3:35pm. NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott acknowledges the job on police radio while on the road. Two French civilians Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot confront Cauchi on an escalator between level three and four, throwing bollards at him. At 3:36pm, CR1 dials triple-0, but the call does not connect. Cauchi had been active for about three minutes at the time of CR1's second attempt. She is put on hold for six minutes. At this point, CR2 is back in the control room and logs in to review CCTV and track Cauchi alongside CR1. Inspector Scott arrives outside the shopping centre on the corner of Oxford and Adelaide Streets. Mr Despreaux and Mr Guerot follow behind the police officer near Zara, and head up to level five where Cauchi is believed to be near Boost Juice. Inspector Scott tells NSW Police via radio she has "got eyes on him … towards Rebel, Myer, Harvey Norman". She is in "foot pursuit" of Cauchi along level five, reaching the air bridge near Priceline. He turns to face her and runs toward the officer. Inspector Scott shoots Cauchi three times at 3:38:40pm, with two of the bullets causing fatal injuries. A minute prior, CR2 activates the Centre Management Emergency Override system button. It triggers "EVAC ALL" displays to appear throughout the centre's screens at 3:39pm. The evacuation alarm sounds at 3:40pm. Senior ambulance and police officials arrive on the scene, and the topic of a second offender is discussed. At 3:45pm, the security control room says it is reviewing the CCTV and will confirm the number of suspects ASAP. Five minutes later, CR1 goes to the Fire Control Room to make a PA announcement for people to evacuate Westfield. CR2 confirms there was only one offender at 3:52pm, but a police helicopter advises of a person of interest on the rooftop car park at 4:08pm. Police broadcast about 20 minutes later that Cauchi is the sole offender. At 3:55pm, paramedics attend to Faraz Tahir. Emergency treatment takes place outside the centre at 4:15pm, but Mr Tahir dies soon after. It was his first shift at the shopping centre. The evacuation alarm stops ringing at 4:03pm. A multi-agency debrief is held at 5:30pm between police, ambulance and Westfield officials. An ambulance officer confirms eight people have been taken to hospital, including a baby, many with critical injuries. More than a year after the tragic day, Cauchi's acts and the systemic issues raised continue to devastate the victims' families and friends. Faraz Tahir was remembered as a hero who came from Pakistan in the hope of a better future. Yixuan Cheng, also known as Josie, was studying a Master's degree at the University of Sydney and celebrating after an exam. Pikria Darchia was an artist from Georgia who enjoyed painting landscapes and "cared deeply" about her sons' health and happiness. Jade Young, named by her grandparents, was a "gentle" and "kind-hearted" architect who adored her family and dog, Teddy. Ashlee Good was a new mother and fitness enthusiast who said in a video played to court that "being active is part of who I am". Dawn Singleton was a "private" person and remains loved deeply and fiercely by her friends, parents and partner. State Coroner Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan said for loved ones, nothing would "take away their pain". "Their emotional fortitude … is a testament not only to their strength and courage, but to their unending love for those beautiful souls."
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Too soon to remove Lapu Lapu memorial?
Too soon to remove Lapu Lapu memorial? As the City of Vancouver starts consolidating memorials at the site of a mass killing, members of the community are questioning the move.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Daily Mail
The hidden side of Joel Cauchi that Australians never knew about - before he brought nightmarish horror to Westfield Bondi Junction
Top of his class at university and with the ability to speak three languages, the future looked bright for Joel Cauchi. But a series of fateful decisions would lead to him being overlooked by authorities and detached from the mental health system before he became one of Australia's worst mass killers. The 40-year-old armed himself with a pigging knife when he killed six people and injured 10 others at Sydney 's Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre while experiencing a psychotic episode in April 2024. Details about his history and mental health decline were revealed during an inquest into the tragedy, which ended when the knife-wielding Cauchi was shot dead by a senior police officer. The Toowoomba man had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen after experiencing hallucinations. He was successfully treated for decades through a combination of anti-psychotic medication and psychiatric treatment in the public and later private systems. Cauchi was a 'high-functioning' schizophrenic who had a university degree, coming top in his class, and could speak German and Mandarin, his mother later told Queensland police. By June 2019, he had been weaned off the two drugs he was taking after he complained about the medicines' side effects. Eight months later, he moved to Brisbane to study to become an English teacher but was cut off from his psychiatric sessions as COVID-19 swept across the world. He fell off the radar of mental health professionals from that point. But numerous interactions with Queensland police between 2021 and 2023 should have signalled something was wrong, the inquest into the mass stabbing heard. Three times - in October 2020, November 2020 and May 2021 - Cauchi was pulled over by Brisbane highway patrol officers when they witnessed his erratic driving. It included rapidly braking and accelerating, and swerving into adjacent lanes. On each of those occasions, he told officers he was schizophrenic but unmedicated. In May 2021, he told a senior constable he did not realise he was driving in the dangerous manner. 'You didn't realise you were braking and then accelerating and then braking and then accelerating?' the officer asked. 'No, no,' Cauchi replied. The then-37-year-old had been on his way to charity Wesley Mission to get food. He received a warning from police. The same month, police were called to an apartment complex in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Kangaroo Point. They had been notified of a man screaming and the sounds of someone being hit. When Cauchi answered his door, he told officers he had been slamming his fridge. Just over a year later, he made repeated phone calls to a Toowoomba girls high school asking permission to watch events like swimming carnivals, netball and gymnastics. A concerned staff member notified police. From around 2022, Cauchi's online search history showed his interest in disturbing topics such as serial killers, mass stabbings and weapons. 'Five best assault rifles in the world,' one search read. '14 bands that serial killers loved,' another said. On an evening in January 2023, Cauchi called police to his parents' Toowoomba home, accusing his father Andrew of stealing his military knives. One was the same type of knife later used in the shopping centre attack. By that stage, Cauchi had quit studying to be a teacher and returned to live with his parents after his unit lease ran out. His mother Michele told police her son had been up at 3am making noises and stamping his feet. Cauchi's father took the knives and gave them to a friend to look after because he was worried about his son having them in his current mental state. 'He's been in a rage and he was pushing us around a little bit,' Mrs Cauchi said. Cauchi claimed he would be made homeless, left bankrupt and killed if the knives were not returned. Mrs Cauchi pleaded with officers that her son needed help. 'He's gone too far now. He doesn't know he is sick,' she said. 'I don't know how we're gonna get into treatment really. Unless he does something drastic.' Speaking with another officer, Cauchi was asked about his mental health. 'Yeah, it's been, um, terrific, actually ... really good,' he said. Cauchi's mental condition was never seen by police as being so bad that he needed involuntary treatment, the inquest was told. But one of the officers who attended the family home was concerned enough to email the police mental health incident co-ordinator about a follow-up the night after the knife-related call-out. That email was seen but nothing further was done. Fifteen months later, Cauchi had become homeless and was living in Sydney's eastern suburbs before he stepped into the Bondi shopping centre and murdered six people with his knife.
