It is believed the man, captured on harrowing footage running through the centre armed with a knife and wearing a green and gold Kangaroos jersey, suffered from schizophrenia.

Police officers visited the childhood home of Cauchi in Toowoomba on Sunday, with a neighbour telling media he had met Joel and describing him as “disturbed”.

“It’s a spin out, he could have done that here,” the man said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

“They seem like a nice family with a nice house but he had schizophrenia growing up.”

A woman told news.com.au she briefly dated Cauchi in 2019 after meeting him on dating app Badoo.

She said the pair were both from Toowoomba and met up when she had just turned 18.

The woman said he was older than what he had originally said in his dating profile, however, was “kind and sweet.”