The police officer who brought Joel Cauchi's stabbing rampage to an end at Bondi Junction Westfield a year ago is today giving evidence at a coronial inquest. New South Wales Police Inspector Amy Scott fatally shot the 40-year-old man who had killed six people and injured 10 during a six-minute stabbing rampage in April last year.
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00:00Today is an incredibly important day in this five-week long coronial inquest.
00:07We've heard details that have never been made public before of the account of New South Wales
00:12police officer, Inspector Amy Scott, the officer who stepped into Bondi Junction Westfield alone
00:18and took down knife-wielding Joel Couchy after he had killed six people and injured 10.
00:24Today we also heard a heartfelt tribute from Inspector Scott.
00:28She started off her evidence today paying tribute to loved ones who had lost family members in this attack
00:36and also offered her support to the survivors, some who still suffer physical and long-term psychological injuries
00:44from this horrific incident.
00:47We also heard about the exact moments when she was called to the scene.
00:51She told the inquest she received an urgent call-out on her radio around 3.30 in the afternoon.
00:58and arrived at the centre within minutes.
01:01When she rocked up, she says she saw a sea of people leaving one of the exits, waving her down.
01:07And they were saying certain things to her, which made her determine that she needed to go in there alone
01:12and could no longer wait for backup.
01:15She says people were telling her,
01:17please, there's a guy in there with a knife.
01:19He's stabbing people.
01:20He's killing people.
01:21You've got to help us.
01:22She was then directed inside the shopping centre by two men, Cyrus and Damien.
01:27She says that they told her to go up the escalator,
01:31at which point the two men apparently told her,
01:34you are alone, but we are coming with you.
01:36She told them to stay behind her as they started their foot pursuit.
01:41She says she went up the escalator when she first saw Joel Couchy.
01:45And at that point she yelled out, stop.
01:47And then Joel Couchy began to run in the opposite direction.
01:51She says she then started to chase down Joel Couchy until he came up to a number of shops
01:57where a number of unwitting shoppers were standing unaware of what was taking place in front of them.
02:04We saw CCTV vision today of Joel Couchy coming within a metre of a man,
02:09unaware that he was standing in front of a person who had just previously killed six people inside that shopping centre.
02:15At that point, Amy Scott says Joel Couchy stopped.
02:19She says that she then noticed a woman was around 15 metres behind him, hiding behind a pot plant.
02:27She was with a pram at the time.
02:29She says she directed everyone to get behind her and mouthed the words,
02:34run, to that woman who quickly got out of harm's way.
02:37At that point she says she went to turn on her body-worn camera.
02:41And when she looked up, Joel Couchy apparently was charging towards her, holding that knife.
02:47She says she then shot four times with her Glock pistol, three of those bullets hitting Joel Couchy and killing him there.
02:54She says one of the bullets missed.
02:56It actually hit that large pot plant where that woman with the pram had been hiding earlier.
03:02Counsel Assisting says her actions to tell that woman to get out of harm's way likely saved her life.
03:09Afterwards, we heard about the response from security teams and a loud alarm which came on actually after Joel Couchy had been killed.
03:17Inspector Amy Scott said that really impeded their response afterwards because of the volume of the alarm
03:24and made it hard to communicate with fellow emergency crews.
03:28Afterwards, they began CPR on Joel Couchy, but he couldn't be revived at the scene.
03:34There's been a lot of talk as well about how this has affected the emergency crews who were called to that scene.
03:41On that fateful day, Inspector Amy Scott says when she went inside the centre, she did feel fear.
03:47She said she was nauseous.
03:49In her mind, she had basically resigned to the fact that she thought she was probably going to die on that day
03:56and only had about a 20% chance of living if she had a partner and was suited up, both of which she did not have at the time.
04:04She's continuing to give evidence today, which is crucial in this five-week-long coronial inquest,
04:10which still has a long way to go and more evidence to see as it continues into the weeks ahead.