A HERO civilian who bravely faced knifeman Joel Cauchi in the middle of his stabbing spree in Sydney said the killer’s eyes were “empty”.
The French construction worker confronted Cauchi with a bollard to stop him from reaching a children’s play area in a shopping centre.
7NewsFriends Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux confronted Cauchi in Westfield[/caption]
Footage shows construction worker Damien Guerot standing at the top of an escalator, holding a bollard, as the killer advances
Guerot, wielding a metal chair, and other bystanders follow Insp Amy Scott as she chases knifeman Joel Cauchi
7NewsDamien Guerot, pictured, told of how the killer had ’empty eyes’[/caption]
Cauchi, 40, unleashed terror on Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre on Saturday afternoon, stabbing nine people and killing five women – including first-time mum Dr Ash Good – and one man.
Brave witness Damien Guerot told of the terrifying moment he came face to face with Cauchi and stared into his “empty eyes”.
Dramatic footage showed the construction worker standing at the top of an escalator, holding a bollard as if it was a projectile, as Cauchi creeped up the stairs towards him armed with a large blade.
Guerot appeared to be acting as a human shield, preventing the assailant from accessing the higher level.
Later, the same civilian was captured on video following Inspector Amy Scott as she chased Cauchi through the shopping centre.
He ran with a metal cafe chair in his hand, flanked by other bystanders.
Guerot told Seven News: “I just see someone do something crazy.
“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.”
He said of Cauchi: “The eyes was like empty eyes, he wasn’t there,” adding that Insp Amy Scott – who single-handedly took down the killer – “was actually the hero, she did the job”.
Guerot and his friend Silas Despreaux, both construction workers employed by a small building firm on the North Shore, were at the shopping centre together when Cauchi stabbed six people to death.
The heroic efforts of both police and civilians, such as Guerot, who stepped up amid the violent chaos have been praised by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other world leaders.
FacebookQueensland man Joel Cauchi has been named as the Bondi Westfield attacker[/caption]
The knifeman ascends an escalator in the centre to a level blockaded by a civilian