The suspect who stabbed six people and injured more than a dozen others at a busy shopping center in Australia on Saturday before being shot dead by police has been identified as a man with mental health issues. .
Joel Couch, 40, killed five women and a man at Westfield Shopping Center in Bondi Junction, New South Wales Police said. The man injured at least a dozen people, including a 9-month-old infant whose mother died protecting her child during the stabbing.
New South Wales Police confirmed on Sunday that Couch had a history of mental illness and investigators were not treating the attack as terrorism-related.
Couch’s family said in a written statement obtained by The Associated Press that their son “has struggled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.”
‘Incredible’ mother dies while trying to save 9-month-old child from Sydney stabbing: Report
Australian police have identified Joel Couch, 40, as the suspect who stabbed several people to death in downtown Sydney on Saturday before being shot dead by a police officer. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Mr. Couch’s mental health issues were not immediately identified, but sydney morning herald His family reported that he said he was battling schizophrenia.
The newspaper said police believe Couch’s condition was worsened by his use of drugs, including stimulants and hallucinogens, over the past five years.
The Morning Herald revealed that in June last year, Couch created a profile on Empire Escorts, a website that allows people to solicit sex work. He pointed out that he had not posted it.
Three women laid flowers in remembrance near the crime scene in Sydney’s Bondi Junction on Sunday after several people were stabbed to death at a shopping center the day before. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the officers who subdued Couch were “undoubtedly heroes” and that their actions had saved many more lives. The officer was identified as Inspector Amy Scott.
Eyewitness speaks of ‘enormous courage’ of heroic police officer who thwarted Australian stabbing
Mr Albanese described Scott as a “fantastic police officer who put himself in danger and removed the threat to others without considering the risk to himself”.
Couch’s family condemned his actions, saying in a statement that they had “no problem” with the officer shooting him “to protect others.”
Click to get the FOX News app
“Joel’s actions were truly horrific and we are still trying to understand what happened,” the statement said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
