Riess Tudela was enjoying a quick lunch while on break from his shift at a watch store at Westfield Bondi Junction when he noticed a “swarm” of people on the escalators.
It was just after 3pm on the first day of school holidays, and the massive complex was packed. He started to wonder what was happening. Then a colleague rang.
“She said to stay away from the boutique — they’re all locked up and they’re safe and not to come anywhere near the boutique,” Mr Tudela told 7.30.
“As soon as I heard that, naturally I thought somebody was just trying to rob the store or something like that, and I kind of sprinted down.”
Sitting near Mr Tudela was cafe owner Nan Kamhom and husband Michael Dunkley. They could hear yelling – a warning that there was a man with a knife walking through the facility.
CCTV shows the moment Mr Dunkley shepherds his wife and staff away to a storeroom, yelling at others to join them in the secure area.
As that happens cafe staff crouch behind the counter, with a female staff member grabbing a knife, before placing it back in a drawer.
Loading…
Mr Dunkley then ran out to find out what was going on and Ms Kamhom started to panic.
“I was so angry at him, because I heard someone say ‘gun’ and ‘knife’, like what are you doing?” Ms Kamhom said.
“I tried to call him but he didn’t pick up the phone, and I was panicking and worried about him.”
For Mr Dunkley, instinct had taken over: “My first reaction was I got the fight or flight reflex, and I obviously chose one over the other, and I don’t know what I was going to do.”
Chasing the attacker
Loading…
Meanwhile Mr Tudela surveyed the scene from level five of the sprawling mall, where he could see a man using a bollard to hold off the knife-wielding Joel Cauchi.
“I saw an extremely brave gentleman trying to fend this man off the escalators, and he’s just an absolute hero,” Mr Tudela said.
Word spread that there were more people with weapons – a rumour later proven untrue – and Mr Tudela decided it was time to evacuate.
“I ended up actually going down one of the fire escapes and getting out onto the opposite side of the centre,” he said.
Still on level five, Mr Dunkley joined a group running alongside police officer, Inspector Amy Scott. The knifeman – 40-year-old Cauchi – appeared on a walkway.
Mr Dunkley said Inspector Scott instructed Cauchi to drop the knife several times.
“He lunges straight away, didn’t say a word, went straight at her,” he said.
“If she didn’t draw her firearm … she wouldn’t have been here.
“Immediately when she discharged a firearm, she gave him CPR. And then once she knew that the CPR wasn’t working, she controlled the environment. She asked everyone to leave.”
Guard died ‘helping other people’
Five women and a man were killed in the Saturday incident, while another 12 were hospitalised. The man who was killed, 30-year-old security guard Faraz Tahir, died defending others, said his friend Adnan Qadir.
It was his first day shift at this Westfield mall – what was meant to be an exciting start in a stable career for the refugee from Pakistan.
“I’ll always take comfort into the fact that his last moments exactly reflects what type of person he is,” Mr Qadir said.
“I will take comfort in the fact that he was there helping other people and selflessly sacrificed himself to support others.”
Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV