The parents of Joel Cauchi, who killed six people and wounded more at a Sydney mall on Saturday, have emerged from the attacker's childhood home in Queensland as neighbours and friends check in on the couple in their 70s.
The parents, Andrew and Michele Cauchi, declined to speak to media. They'd already provided a statement saying they were "absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred".
"Joel's actions were truly horrific, and we are still trying to comprehend what has happened. He has battled with mental health issues since he was a teenager," the statement said.
The parents reached out to police after seeing footage of the attack on television.
However, they avoided media outside their home, according to the Daily Mail.
Instead, neighbours spoke to reporters with one - named Carol - saying Joel was expected back home this week to help his dad reduce the number of pigeons he keeps in aviaries at the back of the property. It comes after noise and odour complaints about the birds.
Andrew was seen routinely feeding his pigeons on Sunday evening.
Carol said she couldn't understand how he could carry out the task of removing hundreds of pigeons now that his son was dead.
Joel Cauchi was shot dead by police in Bondi Junction Westfield after he lunged at an officer with his knife.
Carol and another neighbour described Andrew as a "very religious" man who had worshipped at several Toowoomba churches since parting ways with the Catholic faith after expressing his disgust with priests sexually assaulting children.
"He told me that his son was a well-behaved boy who got a bus pass so he could travel around… At one point the son came back home with some other backpackers to help weed the yard. Andrew just loves gardening," Carol said.
Another woman, who had visited his parents for about 30 minutes, told media to "have a bit of compassion" as she left the home.
Another man, who covered his face with a phone, also visited the home.
Six people, five of whom were women, died in the attack.
They were 55-year-old artist Pikria Darchia, architect and mother-of-two Jade Young, security guard Faraz Tahir, 25-year-old daughter of a millionaire Australian businessman Dawn Singleton, 25-year-old Chinese student Yixuan Cheng and 38-year-old first-time mum Ashlee Good, whose nine-month-old baby girl was also wounded in the attack.
