Bondi Junction attack: ector Amy Scott called as witness on day two of inquest

A hero cop who shot Bondi killer Joel Cauchi has opened up about the nightmare day.

The hero cop who shot killer Joel Cauchi during the Bondi attack yelled one word to him get his attention as he continued on his rampage.

Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured 10 during a stabbing rampage at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney’s east on April 13, 2024.

Dawn Singleton, Yixuan Cheng, Faraz Ahmed Tahir, Ashlee Good, Jade Young and Pikria Darchia were all killed in the attack.

ector Amy Scott, working alone, shot Cauchi dead during the incident and is credited with saving multiple lives as a result.

A five-week coronial inquest into Cauchi’s “state of mind” both before the fatal attack and on the day, including whether he may have targeted any particular individuals or groups, began on Monday.

Speaking at the inquest on Tuesday, ector Scott shared how she moved two women pushing prams and another young child out of harms way.

“I knew that there were civilians behind me up close, so I started to usher them back behind me,” Inspector Scott said.

“I saw a lady and a pram – there were actually two ladies and a pram, but one sort of had run away already.”

Inspector Scott said one lady had hidden behind a large pot plant, and she’d signalled and mouthed for her to “run”.

“For a second (Cauchi) turned as if he was going to go that way and at that point I yelled out ‘Mate’ to get his attention back to me,” Inspector Scott said.

Inspector Amy Scott (left) fatally shot Joel Cauchi. Picture: NewsWire/ Mick Tsikas

A court was told she fired three bullets, two of which hit Cauchi. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

She told the court she attempted to get her body worn video on, and while she took her eyes off for that second, Cauchi “sprinted downhill” at her with his knife out.

Counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer SC said Cauchi looked like he was about to follow that lady with the pram, which was why Inspector Scott had yelled out to him.

She then fired at Cauchi, with one of the bullets landing in the pot plant the lady had just been hiding behind.

“I knew on the day it went into that pot plant that that lady had been hiding behind,” Inspector Scott said.

“You effectively directed away a civilian standing there with a pram … she may well have been injured or a child by the ricochet,” Dr Dwyer said.

‘I thought that he was going to kill me’

Inspector Scott revealed what was going through her mind as she fired the first bullet at Cauchi, who was running towards her.

“(I thought) that he was going to kill me,” Inspector Scott said.

The court was told Inspector Scott fired the first bullet, however she continued to back up as Cauchi kept advancing towards her.

Firing twice more, Cauchi collapsed, with Inspector Scott also falling to the floor because she was backing up so quickly.

Chillingly, by the time Cauchi fell, he had “advanced beyond” where Inspector Scott was first standing.

Bondi stabbing victims (top l-r) Jade Young, Ashlee Good, Dawn Singleton, (bottom l-r) Cheng Yixuan, Faraz Ahmed Tahir and Pikria Darchia.

“The way he’d fallen the knife was actually underneath him,” Inspector Scott said, telling the court she couldn’t see it.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d completely incapacitated him enough, but I just knew I had to bite the bullet and make sure that weapon was secure.”

She pulled him into the recovery position, saw the knife was in his body, flicked it away and began to render aid to him.

She then asked a security guard to go check if the round she knew had missed had hit anyone.

Inspector Scott said shoppers were saying “What’s going on” as the incident unfolded.

“People weren't aware of what was happening,” she said.

She said others were “inherently aware of what was happening”.

‘Let’s go catch him’: Bollard men

Silas Desperaux and Damien Guerot, two men who helped Inspector Scott find Cauchi as he made his way through the building, spoke to the inquest on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Desperaux said he turned to his friend and said “let’s go catch him” after hearing someone say there was “a man stabbing people”.

The pair took bollards from a store and another shopper directed Mr Desperaux that Cauchi had ran downstairs.

They followed him from a level above with the bollards until they came to an escalator, where they managed to usher a woman, seemingly unaware of Cauchi on the floor below, out of harm’s way.

French nationals Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux speaking after the incident.

Mr Guerot said he “screamed at the lady to come up the escalator”.

Once she was out of the way Mr Desperaux managed to throw the bollard at Cauchi, and while it touched him it didn’t appear to make much difference to him.

At the same time, Mr Guerot had moved onto the opposite escalator going down to try and trap Cauchi on the escalator.

However, when Mr Guerot missed, he ran up to be with Mr Desperaux, who had began to run out of the centre once his own bollard missed Cauchi.

Mr Guerot then tried to throw the bollard at Cauchi but also missed.

Mr Guerot appeared to cry while giving his condolences to the families of those who died in the attack.

“I just want to say sorry for the family, for everyone who lost someone,” Mr Guerot said.

Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan commended them both for their “extraordinary courage”.

“It was extraordinary the things that you did on that day, and I hope that you are healing, and I hope that this process helps your healing a little bit as well,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Mr Desperaux couldn’t remember exactly when Inspector Scott pulled out her gun, but remembered “yelling at the police officer ‘shoot him, shoot him’”.

‘Probably going to die’

Inspector Scott earlier in the day said she had “resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to die” as she headed into the centre.

“I actually felt nauseous as I ran in because in my head I resigned myself to the fact that I was probably going to die,” she told the court.

She explained when doing active armed offender training they would talk about survival rates, which were estimated to be between about 60 to 70 per cent for officers partnered up and wearing a vest.

“And I was neither of those,” she said.

Cop breaks down

She became upset as she shared how the other young police officers who were called to the scene were “fearful running in”.

“Whilst I was the person that faced Joel, those young officers ran in with the same intentions,” she said.

Tears filled her eyes as she spoke of their bravery.

“I just want to acknowledge their courage and bravery and some of them …(are) unable to return (to work).

“They have my wholehearted support, love and care, and I hope that the public does understand that they were absolutely extraordinary – they saved lives that day.”

She also acknowledged the paramedics, first responders and civilians.

“You had young 20-year-old shop keepers dealing with a crisis, adults turning to them saying ‘What do we do?’” she said.

Chief Inspector Andrew Marks gave evidence in court on Monday. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

She said while we “unfortunately lost the lives of beautiful people” that day, the actions of civilians and first responders had “restored faith in humanity and the goodness in people”.

‘We’re coming with you’: Bollard men

Once inside the centre Silas Desperaux and Damien Guerot helped Inspector Scott find Cauchi and were “witnesses to the eventual shooting of Mr Cauchi”.

“As we’re going up the escalator … one of them sort of tapped me on the back and said ‘You’re on your own, we’re coming with you’,” Inspector Scott said.

“They were wonderful.”

She told them to stay behind her as they moved up the escalator.

“As we got to the top we heard screaming, I heard screaming, off to the right. Someone said ‘Over there’,” she said.

“As I ran a little bit around … I saw Joel for the first time.

“His back was to me, it was very evident that he was the person by the size of the knife he was holding.”

She yelled out stop, however he ran.

Upon first seeing the knife, Inspector Scott knew “it could cause some serious damage”.

She said she didn’t draw her firearm right away as the centre was busy and she “didn’t want to hurt anybody else”.

Instead she had it holstered as she chased Cauchi with the safety clip undone, holding it in place as she ran.
As she turned towards the air bridge, Cauchi “paused as if he was going to stab some shopkeepers”.
“He sort of looked back at me and then kept running,” Inspector Scott said.
She said she thought, “As long as I’m chasing this guy, hopefully he’s not going to do any damage”.

After proceeding another 10m, he stopped.

‘People are dying’

Civilians told Inspector Scott there was a “guy in there with a knife” and said “you’ve got to help us, please get in there”.

Inspector Scott said she was told “people are dying” and that “multiple people were screaming at me saying ‘there’s a guy, there’s people like getting stabbed, there’s a man with a knife in there’” in a police interview following the attack.

Initially planning to meet other officers before heading into the centre, she knew she “just had to go in” after hearing from those rushing out of the centre.

“It changed my response immediately. I considered it to be an active armed offender, I also knew that I couldn’t wait anymore for my colleagues to arrive and I just had to go in,” she said.

“It was my intention to try and find the threat.”

Originally published as Bondi Junction attack: ector Amy Scott called as witness on day two of inquest