A counterterrorism expert said the triple zero call made by the security control room operator in the Westfield Bondi alloy duty was too late and unclear to the point where there was a risk of confusing police to think there was another attacker still arming the gun in a large gun inside the mall.

When Joel Cauchi, 40, launched a stabbing attack at a Sydney mall in April 2024, the unnamed security officer left the control room lounge to rest, killing six people and injuring another 10.

She did not respond in time when the Guard did return to the control room, and as the attack unfolded, British counterterrorism expert Scott Wilson investigated the death.

Wilson said the officer might be confused about whether she needs to wait for her supervisor’s permission before making an emergency agreement, including calling the police.

On Monday, 10 minutes after Kuch began the attack, security officials recorded a 300 call, and by Monday, he was shot and killed by NSW police inspector Amy Scott and investigated on Monday.

On the phone, the officer told police that the Westfield Bondi junction had “fired”.

When asked if she was injured, she replied, “We don’t know, we’re just evacuating the center as soon as possible.” She later added during the call: “So I was just told we had three to four people injured and two stabs” and “the police are doing CPR on someone at the fifth level”.

Wilson called the response “insufficient”, especially considering that police were already on the scene when she called and Cage was killed.

"If it was conveyed within the first minute, she would have little knowledge. But, this is 10 minutes after the attack began. If I were a police operator there, I would assume... there was an armed criminal with gun shooting people there. She was talking about shootings with armed criminals.

"If you answer the call, you might think it's not a knife attack at all. It's a gunshot...it's really dangerous."

Wilson said that while the “mixed” call is unlikely to affect the outcome of the incident, “this could do that because the police knew the single criminal had been shot and then five minutes later, when someone talked about the shooting, you got the call and shot the shooting at level five”.

A "hot zone" was created at the Bondy junction after telling the big criminal in late April after people were worried about a possible core indictment of a second criminal in the mall. The name prevented caregivers from entering Westfield.

Wilson on Monday questioned why security officers stayed in the room rather than being replaced by more capable people in emergencies.

The investigation heard that her lack of knowledge was previously marked as further training.

"Why keep her in that room if you don't have confidence in her?" Wilson told the court on Monday in the Coroner's Court.

He acknowledged changes in the program following the Scentre Group incident, which operates Bondi Junction Westfield.

Now, officials do not need superior authorization until they have to stay in the control room and call Triple Zero in an emergency.

Cauchi experienced psychotic symptoms during a stabbing revelry after being diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager.

He had previously heard that his personal psychiatrist had developed a plan to lose his medication and he had successfully received treatment for antipsychotics.

By mid-2019, he had no medication and by early 2020, he stopped seeing psychiatrists regularly after moving from Toowoomba to Brisbane. The investigation continues.

Other reports from the Associated Press in Australia