SYDNEY: No one can know the mind of Sydney shopping mall killer Joel Cauchi, but psychiatrists say one underlying cause of his rampage is evident: he had schizophrenia, stopped his medication and fell out of treatment.

People have searched for a fathomable motive since the April 13 l
Cauchi`s parents have said their son was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17 and was successfully treated for about 18 years. A serious mental disorder, schizophrenia can cause hallucinations, delusions and disordered behaviour. It requires lifelong treatment.

New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said it was `obvious` to her and detectives that the 40-year-old Cauchi had targeted women and avoided men, sparking a media debate about misogyny in Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the gender breakdown among the victims as `concerning` and vowed to do more to combat violence against women, citing a toll of one woman dying at the hands of a man they knew every week.

`But we will never know what was in the mind of the perpetrator of these acts,` said professor Ian Hickie, co-director of health and policy at the University of Sydney`s Brain and Mind Centre. `Ordinary people are trying to impose a rational explanation,` he said.-AFP