The AFL community is mourning the death of ex-North Melbourne player Kerry Good’s daughter Ashlee, who was tragically killed in Saturday’s Bondi shopping centre horror attack.
North Melbourne players are wearing black armbands in their clash against Geelong in honour of Ashlee Good – who is confirmed as one of six people dead in the shocking attack.
Good’s nine-month-old daughter Harriet was among those seriously wounded and is said to be in a “serious but stable condition in hospital” with stabbing injuries.
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North coach Alastair Clarkson fought back tears as he spoke pre-game on the tragic death of Ashlee Good.
“It’s shocking for our club and in particular the Good family,” he told Fox Footy.
“It’s just so sad.
“Ash and her beautiful little girl Harriet. She’s not going to have a mum – it breaks our hearts.
“It breaks our hearts even more as humanity.”
In a statement, North Melbourne confirmed the club was rallying around Good’s father Kerry, who played 74 games and is a former director.
“Like all Australians, we were horrified to see the awful details coming out of Sydney on Saturday,” club president Dr Sonja Hood said.
“To learn later that Ashlee and her daughter were victims in this tragedy really brings something like this close to home.
“Our thoughts and condolences go to all those impacted by the awful events, especially to Ashlee’s partner Daniel Flanagan, Kerry and Dian, Ashlee’s mother Denise, and Ashlee’s extended family and friends.
“Kerry and his family are incredibly important people in our club’s history and we offer them our love and support through what is an unimaginably difficult time.”
The Good family has issued a statement as they await news on the health of young Harriet, describing Ashlee as “a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all round outstanding human and so much more”.
Ashlee Good succumbed to her injuries after desperately passing the child to two strangers in the hope they could save the infant’s life.
“To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not – words cannot express our gratitude”, they said in a statement to Australian media.
The AFL has issued a separate statement to extend their deepest sympathies to the Good family and all those involved in the Bondi tragedy.
“I know so many people who know Kerry and the family are hurting and the football world is united in its sympathy for the Good family and the many people across our North Melbourne and football community and the wider community who have been affected by this attack,” AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said.
“You shudder when you hear the news on Saturday and find it hard to comprehend that an activity that is so normal and so common to every Australian family, could end so tragically.
“As a football person I know everyone across the football family will join the North Melbourne Football Club and their supporters in offering our condolences to all impacted by Saturday’s attack, particularly Ashlee’s partner Daniel Flanagan, Kerry and Dian, Ashlee’s mother Denise, and Ashlee’s extended family and friends.”
Australian police have identified a 40-year-old man who suffered from mental illness as the perpetrator of a Sydney shopping centre stabbing rampage that killed six people and hospitalised 12 more.
New South Wales police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said Sunday the man had come from the northeast state of Queensland and was known to law enforcement.
“There is still to this point nothing that we have, no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise,” said Cooke.
The 40-year-old man – who was shot dead by a senior police officer at the scene Saturday – was named as Joel Cauchi.
Five women and one man, a security guard, were killed in his attack, leading police to say they were investigating whether women were specifically targeted.
Source Agencies
