Source : Perth Now news
Paramedics will explain what it was like tending to the injured in the aftermath of a deadly stabbing rampage on weekend shoppers at a busy mall.
A coronial inquest is examining the events of April 13, 2024 when Joel Cauchi entered Bondi Junction Westfield armed with a 30-centimetre knife.
Experiencing psychotic symptoms, the 40-year-old killed six people and injured 10 others before being shot dead by police.
Two NSW Ambulance officers who were on the front line on the day will testify at the state’s coroner’s court on Wednesday.
Critical care paramedic Christopher Wilkinson will give evidence about what he saw on the day.
He will be followed by assistant commissioner Brent Armitage who directed a control centre at the shopping centre.
The court has heard heartbreaking testimony from Inspector Amy Scott, the officer who fired the fatal shots downing Cauchi, as well as two civilians who helped her locate the killer.
Insp Scott described how she feared for her life during the 85-second foot chase through the mall.
What happened after Cauchi was stopped in his tracks was difficult to remember with NSW Police chief inspector Christopher Whalley breaking into tears while giving evidence on Tuesday.
He had asked why a group of junior officers were standing so close to the dead victim they were guarding.
“Their response was because, ‘I don’t want to leave them alone’,” he said.
Chief Insp Whalley took over command of the incident from Insp Scott.
Dawn Singleton, 25, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, were killed in the April 2024 attack.
The court previously was told Cauchi had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teen and had been successfully treated until 2019 when he stopped his medication.
He lived a largely transient life away from the support of his parents in Toowoomba, near Brisbane and had been homeless when he set foot into the shopping centre for the last time.
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