Sydney knifeman who killed 6 people suffered from 'mental health issues'

Australian police on Sunday said the man believed to be responsible for deadly stabbing spree at a Sydney beach side shopping center has been identified as a 40-year-old originally from the northeast state of Queensland.

Assistant Police Commissioner Queensland Anthony Cooke said the slain attacker was 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi, who suffered from mental health issues, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Six people, including five women, were killed and another 12 injured in knife attacks at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.

Cauchi lived on and off with his parents on a small residential street on Toowoomba's fringes, and had never been arrested or charged in his home state.

The 40-year-old was an itinerant and had lived in his car and at backpacker hostels for the past several years, police said.

He was diagnosed with a mental illness at 17 and in recent years his mental health had declined.

Police are continuing their investigation into the attack, having found no association or links between the slain attacker and any "conservative Christian religious groups, "assistant commissioner Lowe said.