Here’s what we’ve learnt during the first week of the inquest into the tragic Bondi stabbings. It highlighted the tragic incident that occurred on their inaugural ride, April 13, 2024. Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, wrought havoc at Bondi Junction Westfield. He went on to tragically kill six people and injure ten others in his attack. The purpose of the inquest is to begin to answer how these events took place and allowed for such a catastrophic event to occur.
On the day of the attack, Cauchi made the trip to Bondi Junction on public transport that morning. After a few hours of exploring Westfield, he took a $10 bus ride to Bondi Beach. After returning to Bondi Junction at approximately 2:25 PM, he entered and exited the building in what appeared to be an aimless manner. His final entry into Westfield occurred at 3:22 PM, shortly before he began his attack.
The Timeline of Violence
At around 3:30 PM, Cauchi stabbed his first victim, Dawn Singleton. Eyewitnesses describe the scene as sheer pandemonium when Cauchi began waving around a “Ka-bar knife.” He had purchased the firearm from a shop in Punchbowl, in Sydney’s south-west, just days in early February 2024. In a murderous rampage lasting only three minutes, he went on to stab 16 people altogether.
The extremely rapid succession of each event made it nearly impossible for emergency services to muster an appropriate response. NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott, who attended the scene as one of the first responders. She told the story of that day on the Hill as chaotic, noisy, confusing. It was then that she regretted her decision to approach the field alone. It dawned on her that most of her peers were caught up in doing their own things.
“I considered [the scene] to be an active armed offender, and I also knew that I couldn’t wait anymore for my colleagues to arrive, and I just had to go in.” – NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott
Emergency ambulance responder Christopher Wilkinson was moved to share the harrowing communication breakdowns responders experienced this crisis. Franklin recalled that the constant cacophony prevented responders from efficiently coordinating their response efforts.
The Background of Joel Cauchi
Joel Cauchi’s mental health history proved vital in helping the jury piece together why he acted the way he did that fateful day. He was first diagnosed with schizophrenia at 16. His struggles with mental illness possibly contributed to his dangerous fixation on weapons and violence. His phone records and web browsing history showed that he had fixated on themes of mass murder. This point of view goes back at least to 2022.
Witnesses said that they saw Cauchi acting strangely in the days leading up to the attack. His movements in and around Westfield were utterly random. That’s what freaked out the people who saw him. Even with all these alarming signs, no one would have expected the lethal killing spree that was about to happen.
Emergency Response Challenges
Even before the attack wiped out area hospitals, public services emergency response teams had amazing challenges in attempting to respond and take control. NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott underscored the difficulties created by the disorderly scene. Communication was critically limited by noise pollution and alarm fatigue.
“There was a lot of noise, extraneous noise from the environment, and the alarm just didn’t help.” – Emergency ambulance responder Christopher Wilkinson
Inspector Scott gave more insight into how she felt during the attack. She did her best to communicate with her team over the radio. All the loud commotion going on around her made it difficult to hear essential radio transmissions.
“I had my radio turned up really, really loud, like as high as it can, and I still was struggling to hear what other police were communicating.” – NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott
The inquest will continue to explore all of these important themes. It seeks to understand the context of Cauchi’s attack and how law enforcement and emergency medical services responded.
