Terrifying footage captured the moment dozens of shoppers were locked inside a Myer while a knife was stabbed at Westfield Bondi Junction.
A group of shoppers were filmed huddled together in the back room after the mall’s shutters were closed at 3.20pm on Saturday.
Joel Cauchi, 40, continued carrying out his attack that would kill six people and injure many more.
Mother Ashlee Good, 38, was among the murdered victims, while her nine-month-old baby Harriet was left in a serious but stable condition.
Cauchi was then confronted and shot by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.
Myer shoppers were ushered into staff areas to stay safe, including a woman and her baby.
Joel Cauchi, 40, continued carrying out his attack that would kill six people and injure many more.
Bondi Rescue lifeguard Andrew Reid said ABC News He was at Myer trying to buy a bed when an employee told him everyone had to evacuate.
‘[He said] There are people being stabbed outside. And we were going to go out but they lowered the shutters, I guess to protect us,” he said.
“We all walked around and looked up to see what was going on and we heard the two gunshots around the corner.”
That’s when the lifeguard looked back and saw an injured woman on level four and asked her to leave the store.
Putting himself in danger, he provided assistance to the stabbing victims.
Elsewhere in the mall, other stores and retail staff locked themselves and customers inside to stay safe.
NSW Police identified Cauchi as the knife killer on Sunday and said they were treating the horrific attack as a mental health incident.
Cauchi, who is from the Brisbane area and is believed to have suffered from schizophrenia, moved to Sydney from Queensland a month ago.
There is no suggestion that Cauchi was part of any particular ideology.
Police are currently searching a “very small storage facility” in Sydney that Cauchi rented shortly after the move.
He reportedly slept rough and had no fixed address.
Deputy Commissioner Anthony Cooke said detectives have spoken to his family, who have been assisting police with their investigation.
Shoppers were crowded in the hallway of the staff area, looking confused, worried and clutching their phones.
Security shutters at Myer were closed, with customers locked in to protect shoppers and staff from the attacker. Many did not know what was happening and looked through the screens.
“To this point, we still have not received information, we have not recovered evidence, we have not gathered intelligence that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, whether ideological or otherwise,” Deputy Commissioner Cooke told reporters. in the program. Sunday.
“We continue to work on the profile of the offender but at this stage it seems very clear to us that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved.”
According to his social media profiles, Cauchi grew up in Toowoomba and claimed he worked as an English tutor.
He was a surfing enthusiast and last week he posted in a Sydney Facebook group asking if anyone wanted to meet him to surf in Bondi.
In a profile seeking shared accommodation, Cauchi said he was looking for a place to live in Sydney’s western suburbs in “Liverpool, Blacktown, Pendle Hill or Parramatta”.
‘I love meeting new people and seeing interesting new places!’ he wrote about himself.