Danny Farah, chief executive of logistics and security firm Chief Group Services, said most guards were trained to observe, keep the peace, de-escalate aggressive situations and call the police when required. He said it was not evident the “very unfortunate” but isolated Bondi incident showed more weaponry was needed.
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“In some cases, a baton would help. It doesn’t mean that it’s necessary, though,” Farah said. “There’s never really been a need in my time in security. It has never been common practice for any guards to hold these weapons.”
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the coronial inquest would inevitably examine the security situation at the shopping centre and weapons used by guards. Asked about firearms before Minns ruled it out, Webb stressed the need to “tread carefully” when allowing anyone to carry guns, but said it was a matter for government.
Two of Joel Cauchi’s victims were security guards. Faraz Tahir, a Pakistani refugee who normally worked nights but was filling an earlier shift, was killed. His colleague Muhammad Taha, also from Pakistan, was in a stable condition at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on Monday.
Scentre Group chief executive Elliott Rusanow praised the guards’ efforts to protect the public, and stressed that a member of the team had died. The company would review operational lessons that could be learnt from the tragedy, including security implications, he said.
Scentre Group chief Elliott Rusanow praised security guards’ efforts to protect the public at Bondi Westfield.Credit: Steven Siewert
Several witnesses queried Westfield’s systems, saying they did not hear an alarm until after police inspector Amy Scott shot Cauchi dead about 3.40pm, 20 minutes after police say he entered the shopping centre and began his attack.
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Charlotte Alexander said there was “no indication of anything happening at all” when she entered Westfield at 3.30pm, and did not hear an alarm until a minute or two after the gunshots. Another shopper, Mark Hudson, felt it was several minutes. “It was a long time later,” he said on Saturday.
Rusanow said the centre management communication system activated “within minutes” of the attack. “The security alert system did go into effect very, very quickly,” he said. This “notifies all members of the team and our business partners to either evacuate or shelter in place”.
Panicked shoppers and staff hid inside stores as they closed their security shutters, apparently triggered by an internal alert. It was not clear from Rusanow’s public remarks what effect the alert had, when the evacuation alarm went off or how it was triggered.
A Scentre Group spokeswoman did not answer requests for clarification before deadline, and the company did not respond to emailed questions on Monday.
Source Agencies
