‘Panic stations’: Torquay dad Marty Cooper recalls chemist horror with knife-wielding alleged stabber
A father has told of a chilling plan to take down a former soldier armed with a knife who stormed a Torquay chemist in scenes eerily similar to the Westfield tragedy in Sydney.
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A Torquay man has told of a chilling plan to take down a former soldier armed with a knife who had motioned to stab his son in scenes eerily similar to the Westfield tragedy in Sydney weeks earlier.
Marty Cooper, 38, was holding his 19-month-old son Forrest at the counter of the Torquay Pharmacy on Saturday when a man pulled a knife behind him and kicked him from behind.
“He could have just stabbed me in the back and I would never have known,” he said.
The alleged offender, Travis Johnston, has been remanded in custody on a string of charges following the ordeal.
It has been revealed the 44-year-old is a retired serviceman believed to have extensive military training.
“When I saw him walk from me and attack another guy with a knife my mind swung to Bondi,” Mr Cooper said.
“It was like ‘holy shit this is another Bondi’, this guy is in a shop with a massive knife and he could walk around and stab everyone in here.
“It was panic stations.”
It will be alleged he stabbed a man on a nearby street before storming the Gilbert St store, with the terrifying rampage captured on security camera footage.
Mr Cooper – whose partner Juliet Adelstein is from Sydney, and whose family lives in Bondi Beach – recalled the chaotic scenes from inside and outside the chemist with the armed man on the loose.
He feared Ms Adelstein would be stabbed.
“They got him outside and locked the doors, and my partner was walking down from Woolies,” he said.
“She was basically standing outside with him and I was like you need to let me go outside she is out there.
“The thought of this guy stabbing my partner was probably the scariest thing because I had all this time to watch it, as opposed to the incident itself where I had no time to think.”
The CCTV footage shows Johnston swing his attention from Mr Cooper to another man at the entrance of the store, who he is alleged to have attacked.
The two alleged victims then discussed options in an effort to “stop anyone from being killed”, according to Mr Cooper, who is a former amateur boxer.
“The other guy that got attacked he was very keen to go out and take the guy down,” he said.
“A lot of the girls in the shop happened to know him, locally, and mentioned he might have been an ex-SAS soldier.
“So we come up with a plan that we could watch him from inside and if he started stabbing other people then obviously we would go outside and try and take him down.”
Mr Cooper said police acted swiftly to arrest the man.
“He ran off through Taylor Park and then we saw an ambulance and paramedics.
“I thought they might have shot him.
“They did an amazing job, we are all very lucky.”
It will be alleged Johnston also entered Woolworths armed with the knife.
He appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday charged with reckless conduct endangering serious injury, two counts of unlawful assault, intentionally causing injury, assault with a weapon and affray.
He is scheduled to appear again on May 22.
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Originally published as ‘Panic stations’: Torquay dad Marty Cooper recalls chemist horror with knife-wielding alleged stabber
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