Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women, police say, as more details emerge of his six victims | News [Video]

(CNN) — Australian police said Monday that the attacker who fatally stabbed six people at a busy shopping mall in Sydney’s beach suburb of Bondi may have been targeting women, as heartbreaking details emerged of those who lost their lives, plunging a nation into mourning.

Five women were among the six people killed by 40-year-old Joel Cauchi when he rampaged through Bondi Junction’s busy Westfield shopping center on Saturday, turning the weekend fall afternoon into a scene of panic and terror.

Twelve others were injured in the rare attack, including a nine-month old baby whose mother was killed. Eight people remained in hospital Monday in conditions ranging from critical to stable with four discharged in the past 24 hours, according to New South Wales’ Minister for Health Ryan Park.

The stabbing spree only ended when Cauchi was shot dead at the scene by an officer who single-handedly pursued him through the mall.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told ABC Breakfast News …