A woman has revealed the unnerving encounter she had with Joel Cauchi two weeks before he killed six and injured a dozen more at Bondi Junction Westfield.
The 40-year-old was shot dead by police after he carried out the deadly attack at the eastern Sydney shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.
Authorities have since confirmed Cauchi was known to police due to his history with mental health issues while his parents said he was off his medication for schizophrenia.
He moved from his family home in Toowoomba to Brisbane before he recently relocated to Sydney, where he was renting a Kennards storage unit in Waterloo.
A woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, has claimed she was in her nearby storage unit when she was followed and confronted by Cauchi less than two weeks ago.
“I had a box cutter because I was cutting my boxes. I thought I should probably just reach for it,” she told 9news.
“I turned around and there was a man inside my storage unit coming towards me, he was halfway in, coming at me quite fast.
“I just put my hands up yelled at him.”
Fast forward almost two weeks and the woman recognised him from images circulating media from the mass stabbing in Bondi.
Information released about the location of his storage unit further confirmed it had been the same man.
“That left me rattled and grateful that I’m okay,” she said.
The woman reported the incident to police but no official complaint was taken because she had not been injured.
Police are instead investigating the mass stabbing over the weekend and confirmed an “obvious line of inquiry” was whether he targeted women.
Five of the six killed were women while about eight of the dozen injured were female.
“He came in contact with New South Wales Health at the back end of last year for a physical ailment for his ear,” Health Minister Ryan Park said.
Poignant tribute left for victim as flowers grow at Bondi site
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