Two chilling words Westfield stabber uttered

A survivor of the Bondi Junction massacre has detailed her experience a week after her discharge from ten days in ICU.

Liya Barko, 35, a Ukraine-born student and cleaner, went to Westfield Bondi Junction to purchase a volleyball on April 13.

It was here she she ran into Joel Cauchi during his stabbing rampage.

“I think he just looked at me and he decided in that moment, and then I looked at my hands and I was bleeding,‘ Ms Barko said to 9News.

Cauchi reportedly spoke to Ms Barko after attacking her, with Ms Barko alleging he said “catch you” before continuing his rampage.

Ms Barko was aided by another shopper following her attack, a man in a green shirt who she is still trying to find and express her thanks.

The man dragged Ms Barko to safety inside a store and stemmed the blood flow from her stab wound.

“When you are on the floor, you’re bleeding, you can see everyone’s expression and some of them were crying, they were scared … for their lives also.”

“I would like to see him again, to at least give him a hug, because I don’t know how we would have managed without him in that moment.”

The next thing Ms Barko detailed was waking up in hospital and the joy of her doctor at her recovery.

“I just remember (he had a) just so, so open smile and happy face,” she said.

“He was so happy, I have never seen someone really so happy.

“I thought okay, if I die right now, I’ll just destroy his shift. So I can’t die right now because he’s just so happy.”

Ms Barko, who arrived in Sydney at the end of 2022, emigrating from Argentina, has been unable to work since the attack.

“My question is how it happened? Why a schizophrenic man was there outside with a knife making a normal Saturday afternoon, he just turn it into hell?”

Up to eighteen people were stabbed at Bondi Westfield, with five dead on-site and one woman dying later in hospital. Those killed were Faraz Tahir, 30, Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Dachria, 55 and Yixuan Cheng, 27.

Cauchi, 40, a Queensland man who had recently moved to Sydney, was shot dead during the rampage.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb told reporters at the time the stabbings were not seen as an “act of terror” as there was “no ideological motivation”.

In a statement released on their behalf by Queensland police, Cauchi’s parents, Andrew and Michele, said Joel’s actions were “truly horrific”.

“We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday,” they said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.

“Joel’s actions were truly horrific and we are still trying to comprehend what has happened. He has battled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.

“We are in contact with both the NSW Police Force and Queensland Police Service and have no issues with the police officer who shot our son as she was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is coping alright.”

Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Roger Lowe said Cauchi had been diagnosed with a mental illness at the age of 17, and that his mental health had declined in the last few years.

A statement from Queensland Health confirmed Cauchi had been treated for mental health issues more than a decade ago, but “his care was transferred to a psychiatrist in the private sector in 2012”.

Assistant Commissioner Lowe said Cauchi’s family had reached out to police after seeing footage of the horrific fatal attack on television and had been “assisting in all elements that they can to gain an understanding of why their son, in this particular case, allegedly behaved in this manner and killed people in a public place.”

Westfield Bondi Junction, which is in the middle of Sydney’s affluent eastern suburb, is the largest shopping centre in the city.

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