Builder who wielded bollard to defend children from rampaging Sydney knifeman says attacker's 'eyes were empty'
14 April 2024, 19:23 | Updated: 14 April 2024, 19:37
A construction worker who helped fend off the Sydney knifeman who killed six people has recalled the chilling sight of the attacker's vacant eyes.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Damien Guerot helped repel 40-year-old surfer and English tutor Joel Cauchi, of Queensland, as he left a trail of destruction in the Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday.
Mr Guerot was caught on camera standing at the top of an escalator holding a bollard as Cauchi came towards him holding a large knife.
Behind Mr Guerot stood dozens of children who had been playing on the first day of the school holidays.
Mr Guerot told 7 News: "I just see someone do something crazy.
"We tried to catch him but he was going down the stairs, then we saw him going down so we followed, tried to maybe throw the bollard at him but we couldn’t."
He and other bystanders then chased after Cauchi along with Inspector Amy Scott, the police officer who shot the knifeman dead.
"The eyes was like empty eyes, he wasn’t there," Mr Guerin said.
Read More: Pictured: Mother, 38, killed defending her baby from Sydney shopping centre massacre
The lone attacker knifed shoppers on Saturday afternoon at the Westfield shopping centre in the suburb of Bondi Junction in eastern Sydney.
Five of the six victims have been named as Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, and Faraz Tahir. Several others were injured. Others were injured, including the baby of Ashley Good.
Police said that Mr Cauchi he was known to them and that he had mental health issues before he unleashed the deadly attack.
Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said Cauchi is believed to have come to New South Wales last month and that police have spoken to his family, who are co-operating with the investigation.
He said Cauchi had hired a "very small" storage container shortly after arriving in Sydney which police have "worked through".
He told a press conference: "As I had said last night, 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.
"We know that the offender in the matter suffers from mental health.
"We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved."
He added: "We have a number of people remaining in hospital being treated for their injuries.
"We know many are in a serious but stable condition.
"In particular, a young child remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital."
A female New South Wales Police inspector Amy Scott has been hailed as a hero after she confronted the attacker on her own and shot him dead as he raised a knife and lunged at her.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the "extraordinary" bravery of those who were at the shopping centre during the attack.
"We also see the footage of ordinary Australians putting themselves in harm's way in order to help their fellow citizens," he said. "That bravery was quite extraordinary that we saw yesterday, the best of Australians amidst this extraordinary tragedy."
"These events were witnessed by thousands of people who were there shopping. This is a shopping centre that is very familiar to Sydneysiders, it is very large indeed.
Mr Albanese said he had received condolence messages from leaders across the world, including US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
"I thank them for their thoughts and prayers that we have received at this most difficult time."
The King has said he and the Queen were "utterly shocked and horrified" by the "senseless attack" in Sydney and their "hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who have been so brutally killed".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his "heart goes out" to those affected by the "truly devastating" attack.
One man who witnessed the incident told 9News Sydney that he helped a baby which had been stabbed in the attack.
He said: “The baby got stabbed. The mum got stabbed and came over with a baby and threw it at me - I was holding the baby, it looked pretty bad.
“There was a lot of blood on the floor. I hope the baby is all right."
The man’s brother who also witnessed the attack said: “He [his brother] helped with holding the baby and trying to compress the baby and same with the mother. We just kept yelling out to get some clothes, get some shirts and and just help us to compress and stop the baby from bleeding.
"With my brother holding the baby so well and really compressing - I think the baby's fine. The mother unfortunately started to have a lot of blood come out of her mouth."
