On April 13, the New South Wales Police named Joel Cauchi, 40, as the attacker of the Westfield Shopping Center incident in Bondi Junction.
He was shot and killed by an officer after fatally stabbing six people—five women and one man—and injuring numerous others, including a nine-month-old baby.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid his tribute to those who died at a candlelight vigil on Sydney’s Bondi Beach eight days after the attack. Hundreds of people attended.
According to Mr. Albanese, the purpose of the meeting was “to grieve for all that has been stolen from us”.
The prime minister continued, saying, “Everything that has been stolen from us, all the possibility and potential, all the kindness and humanity, all the love and laughter of the six lives snatched away.”
To honor all that they represented, all the years of happiness they ought to have experienced, and all the memories they ought to have had the opportunity to create.