Bondi Junction attack: Retail worker joins police force after witnessing Bondi Junction horror
After witnessing the fear of the Bondi Junction massacre, Amy Van Der Jagt decided she wanted to be the one “running towards the danger, not away from it.”
Holed up inside the Nike Store, Amy Van Der Jagt and her colleagues huddled together as a knife-wielding man unleashed carnage upon the bustling Westfield Bondi Junction.
She was drowning in a sea of helplessness as the chaos echoed outside.
It was in that moment, amidst the stark terror and adrenaline, that a fierce resolve surged through her – a burning desire to become the shield, not the sheltered; the rescuer, not the rescued.
“Witnessing the vulnerability of fear en masse and feeling entirely helpless, that solidified my decision to become a police officer,” Ms Van Der Jagt told news.com.au.
“It really cemented that for me and I want to have all the skills and knowledge so that I can be the one running towards the danger, not running away from it.
“Amy Scott was the hero that day, I’m another Amy, I thought ‘it’s a sign’.”
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It was always a career path that had sat in the back of Ms Van Der Jagt’s mind - her dad was a cop before she was born and spoke fondly of his time in the force.
“There’s always been that admiration of him and that perspective of the fulfilment he had, but that day in Bondi Junction that sealed it,” she said.
At 37 years of age, and with experience in retail, fitness and hospitality, the new recruit is confident the “real life experience” - and the real life trauma experience - will hold her in good stead.
“I feel like I have faced the toughest test,” she said of the 2024 massacre that shocked the nation and stole six innocent lives, injured another 10 and changed hundreds of people forever.
“The Nike shop is on level two, most of it happened on level four and five so I wasn’t a witness to anything horrific but I was certainly a witness to the fear of people running out of buildings, we all felt that fear,” Ms Van Der Jagt recalled.
“We were hiding in the back of the store for hours, feeling entirely helpless until we were escorted out by the tactical guys.
“The team were a lot younger and have PTSD to varying levels but I think I really have got the ability to cope with these situations. It really solidified that this is the job for me, what I am meant to be doing.”
Ms Van Der Jagt graduates from the NSW Police Academy in Goulburn as the state’s first female commissioner, Karen Webb, marches out and is hoping for a job with the general purpose dogs or in the tactical unit.
“It would have been really nice to work under her, but there are so many females in high profile policing roles now, I think it’s great.”
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Originally published as Bondi Junction attack: Retail worker joins police force after witnessing Bondi Junction horror
