‘Bollard man’ didn’t know what was happening when he took on Joel Cauchi

Two French construction workers at the shops on a Saturday afternoon have become unlikely heroes after they were filmed attempting to stop Joel Cauchi’s murderous rampage at Bondi Junction.

Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux, both construction workers employed by a small building firm on the North Shore, were at the shopping centre when Cauchi, 40, stabbed six people to death inside the eastern suburbs Westfield before being killed by a single shot from a senior police officer.

Footage from the shopping centre under siege shows Guerot standing at the top of an escalator brandishing a bollard as Cauchi advances; later video appears to show him wielding a metal cafe chair as he and other bystanders sprint after Inspector Amy Scott towards Cauchi.

“I just see someone do something crazy,” he said.

French construction worker Damien Guerot.Credit: Supplied

“We tried to catch him but he was going down the stairs, then we saw him going down so we followed, tried to maybe throw the bollard at him but we couldn’t,” Guerot told Seven News.

“The eyes was like empty eyes, he wasn’t there,” he said of Cauchi, then praising the police officer who fired the fatal shot.

“She was actually the hero, she did the job,” Guerot said.

A clip uploaded to social media shows the man standing at the top of an escalator, holding the bollard up in the air like a projectile, with its heavy base pointed toward the attacker, and moving toward him. Meanwhile, the attacker was moving up the stairs, clutching a knife. But the five-second clip does not show how the confrontation concluded.

A friend who spoke with Guerot and Despreaux after the incident said they were coping well.

“They are both OK, it’s a very strange thing for someone. I haven’t had much of a chance to speak since, they have been busy with police I think.”

Silas Despreaux, along with Damien Guerot, confronted the killer in Westfield.Credit: Instagram

The friend had been with the two men on Saturday morning and said he was in a state of shock.

“I can’t believe it, it’s like something off TV.”

Guerot’s confrontation with Cauchi was lauded by the police officer who killed Cauchi, and by Bondi lifeguard Andy Reid, himself caught up in horror on Saturday.

“I just saw the footage of the guy with the bollard, I reckon he’s the real hero here,” Reid told Nine News.

If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au) or Beyond Blue on1300 22 4636 (and see beyondblue.org.au).

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