Hero ‘bollard guy’ who confronted Joel Cauchi in Bondi mall describes attacker’s ‘empty eyes’

Damien Guerot used a bollard to fend off Joel Cauchi in the midst of the Bondi mall stabbing attack.

Two bystanders who ran toward danger and helped apprehend the man who murdered six people in a Sydney mall at the weekend have been commended for their bravery.

Damien Guerot and friend Silas Despreaux arrived at Westfield Bondi Junction for a gym workout when they heard a person scream.

”There’s a man stabbing people”, they told 7News.com.au.

They ran toward the noise and saw Queensland man Joel Cauchi, 40, brandishing his knife.

Cauchi killed six people in his stabbing spree and injured another 12, including a baby girl whose mother he killed. Five of Cauchi’s victims have now been identified.

Guerot and Despreaux witnessed some of Cauchi’s rampage. “I saw a guy on the floor with a lot of blood, I saw one girl from the balcony get stabbed,” Guerot said.

A video still taken from news coverage shows heavily armed police entering Bondi Westfield from the roof. Photo / 9News

“We were thinking, ‘We need to try to stop him’,” he said.

From a higher floor, they followed Cauchi until he started up an escalator.

Video then shows Guerot blocking the top of the escalator, lunging with a bollard at Cauchi as the ascending attacker waves his knife.

Damien Guerot wields a shopping mall bollard at Joel Cauchi as the attacker attempts to climb an escalator brandishing his knife. Photo / 7News.com.au

Guerot said he didn’t think when he came face to face with the killer - he was running on adrenaline.

He described Cauchi as having “empty eyes”.

“It was like he wasn’t there.”

Guerot said Joel Cauchi looked different in photos than he did in the mall amid his killing spree on Saturday.

Guerot later grabbed a chair and chased the man before alerting Acting Inspector Amy Scott to the attacker’s whereabouts.

Scott confronted Cauchi, who turned to face her and raised his knife. She then shot him dead.

While Scott has been widely praised as a hero, Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the officer had also specifically commended Guerot and Despreaux to her for their heroism.

Acting Inspector Amy Scott performed CPR on the killer after shooting him. Photo / News.com.au

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also acknowledged “ordinary Australians putting themselves in harm’s way in order to help their fellow citizens”.

Guerot disagreed, saying Scott was “the real hero”.

“She did the job. We just did what we did.”

Despreaux is a permanent resident but Guerot’s visa expires in July, and the public is calling for him to be made a citizen.

A woman brings flowers to an impromptu memorial at Bondi Junction after six people were stabbed to death by 40-year-old Joel Cauchi. Photo / Rick Rycroft, AP