Mass stabbing attack at Sydney mall not driven by ideology: police

SYDNEY -- Australian police on Sunday identified the perpetrator of a Sydney shopping centre stabbing that killed six people, saying no intelligence would suggest the attack was driven by ideology.

The offender in the Saturday afternoon attack at Westfield Shopping Centre at Bondi Junction was 40-year-old Joel Cauchi from Queensland, New South Wales (NSW) Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters.

Cooke said the man was known to authorities in his home state and suffered from mental health issues.

"There is still to this point nothing that we have, no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise," Cooke said.

"We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved," he added.

Emergency services were called to the shopping centre Saturday afternoon following reports that multiple people had been stabbed, NSW Police said in a press release on Sunday.

A police officer attended and was allegedly confronted by Cauchi, armed with a knife. Cauchi allegedly lunged at the officer, before he was shot dead, according to the press release.

Five other people, including four women believed to be aged between 20 and 55 and a man aged in his 30s, who were in the centre, died at the scene.

Twelve others, including nine women, two men and a 9-month-old child, suffering stab wounds, were treated by paramedics and taken to various Sydney hospitals.

A 38-year-old woman who was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in a critical condition has since died.

Police are aware that other people have also sought medical treatment for various injuries, the press release said.