‘Escape, Hide and Tell’: Westfield owner’s safety message days before Bondi violence

Westfield owner Scentre Group told tenants at its main Westfield Sydney mall to hide customers, lock doors and turn off lights if confronted by an armed offender, in a pamphlet distributed just days before six people were fatally stabbed at the nearby upmarket Bondi Junction mall.

Australia’s largest shopping centre manager, which operates 37 malls, would not confirm to this masthead if the same safety message was provided to the Bondi Junction’s tenants before the stabbing rampage on the weekend.

A police cordon near the crime scene at Bondi Junction on Monday.Credit: AP

Police are still piecing together the events that took place at the Bondi shopping centre on Saturday afternoon after Joel Cauchi entered the indoor mall and stabbed up to 18 people with a long-bladed knife before being shot dead by police Inspector Amy Scott.

Scentre Group chief executive Elliot Rusanow on Monday rejected claims it took up to 25 minutes after the initial attack for alarms to sound inside the Bondi Junction Westfield.

“I don’t believe that is accurate. My understanding is that the alarms, and what they call the centre management communication system, did go off within a couple of minutes of the first attack,” Rusanow told reporters at Bondi Junction.

He added that the mall would remain closed “for a few days” to allow grieving families to visit the site. “We are devastated by this tragedy,” he said.

Scentre Group chief executive Elliott Rusanow outside the Bondi shopping centre on Monday.Credit: Steven Siewert

The one-page pamphlet pushed under the doors of some of Westfield tenants last Wednesday reads: “If there’s an active, armed offender: Escape, Hide and Tell.”

“Listen to any instructions issued over the PA, or by centre management or emergency services but do not hesitate to act if it is apparent there is a need to shelter and there haven’t been any announcements,” it instructs.

A senior security executive with in-depth knowledge of major mall owners’ operations in Australia, who declined to be identified to speak freely, said the Bondi Westfield site would be “trauma cleaned”, and its reopening might be staggered.

“They’ll probably go through a series of debriefs with their employees, their tenants, their security agencies and things like that to look for lessons learned,” the security executive said.

Mega malls, such as football stadiums or rock concert venues, are designated mass gathering places and operators have a responsibility to protect their customers, the expert said.

The expert said that staff and tenants at malls were trained to adhere to the “escape, hide, and tell” protocol when dealing with violent offenders or terrorists.

“They look as though they’ve adhered to that. They locked down the centre, they evacuated the centre.

“In this case, it appears that it’s worked because you saw all the tenancies going into immediate lockdown and going into a storage area or somewhere out of sight.”

Supermarket tenants contacted by this masthead said they would assess perishable fresh products once they regained access to their stores, but refrigeration and air-conditioning hadn’t stopped.

Shopping Centre Council of Australia chief executive Angus Nardi said safety and security was a priority for the industry. “We take very seriously that shopping centres are public places,” Nardi said.

SafeWork NSW was also making inquiries following the tragedy and would liaise with NSW Police, a spokesperson said.

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