A triple-zero call made by a security control room operator on duty at Westfield Bondi Junction was made too late and was so unclear it risked confusing police into thinking there was another attacker armed with a gun still at large inside the shopping centre, a counter-terrorism expert has said.
The security officer, who cannot be named, had left the control room for a toilet break when Joel Cauchi, 40, launched his stabbing attack at the Sydney shopping centre in April 2024 that killed six people and injured 10 others.
When the guard did return to the control room, she did not respond in a timely manner as the attack unfolded, Scott Wilson, a British counter-terrorism expert, told an inquest into the deaths.
Wilson said the officer may have been confused about whether she needed to wait for permission from a supervisor before engaging in emergency protocols, including calling police.
A recording of the security officer’s triple-zero call, made 10 minutes after Cauchi began his attack and by which time he’d been shot dead by NSW police inspector Amy Scott, was played to the inquest on Monday.
In the call, the officer tells police there have been “shots fired” at the Westfield Bondi Junction.
Asked if there are injuries, she replies: “We’re not aware, we’re just evacuating the centre as quickly as we can.” Later in the call, she adds: “So I was just informed that we’ve got three to four injuries and two stabbings” and “the police are doing CPR on someone on level five”.
Wilson called this response “inadequate”, especially given that by the time she made the call, police were already on the scene and Cauchi had been killed.
“If that had been relayed in the first minute, then she’s going to have very little knowledge. But this was 10 minutes after the start of the attack. If I was the police operator there, I would assume … there’s an armed offender with a gun shooting people in there. She talks about shots being fired with an armed offender.
“If you’re taking that call, you may think it’s not a knife attack at all. It’s a gun attack … which is really dangerous.”
Wilson said that while the “mixed up” call was not likely to have had an impact on the outcome of the event, “it could have done, because the police know that the single offender has been shot, and then you’re getting a phone call five minutes later when somebody’s talking about shots have been fired and a suspect at level five”.
A “hot zone” was put in place at Bondi Junction after concerns were raised that there could be a second offender at large inside the shopping centre, the inquest was told in late April. The designation prevented paramedics from entering the Westfield.
Wilson on Monday questioned why the security guard remained in the room instead of being replaced by someone more competent as the emergency unfolded.
Deficiencies in her knowledge had previously been flagged and further training scheduled, the inquest has heard.
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“If you’ve not got faith in her, why leave her in that room?” Wilson told the court on coroners court Monday.
He acknowledged changes in procedures made after the incident by Scentre Group which runs the Bondi Junction Westfield.
Two people must now remain in the control room at all times and officers do not need authorisation from superiors before calling triple zero in an emergency.
Cauchi was experiencing psychotic symptoms at the time of his stabbing spree after being diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager.
He had been successfully treated with antipsychotics for decades before his private psychiatrist formed a plan to wean him off the medication, the inquest previously heard.
By mid-2019, he was not taking medication and by early 2020 he had stopped seeing a psychiatrist regularly after moving from Toowoomba to Brisbane. The inquest continues.
Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
