Bondi Junction Westfield reopens for 'day of reflection': Community gathers to mourn lives lost in Joel Cauchi's stabbing horror

The mood was solemn at Westfield Bondi Junction on Thursday as NSW Premier Chris Minns and Karen Webb arrived at the centre to leave a wreath of flowers.

Members of the public waited outside the entrance to the shopping centre alongside media crews and Westfield security on Thursday morning.

People began silently filing into the Westfield at about 11am to take the escalator up to the fourth level where six large wreaths of white roses had been placed.

Several bouquets had been left underneath the wreaths by mourners after just a few minutes.

People stood in silence as three women placed a large bouquet of flowers together.

One of the women began to cry as she was led away from the memorial by supporters.

Some mourners chose to write messages in a condolence book while others walked silently through the shopping complex.

The shopping centre remained eerily quiet throughout the morning as hundreds of members of the public wandered the floors.

They were encouraged to take black ribbon commemoration pins to wear as a symbol of respect for the victims.

Counsellors from Lifeline moved through the crowd offering comfort, along with members of the Salvation Army and Red Cross volunteers.

Few who attended dwelt outside the shops where Cauchi caused his greatest carnage, or at the spot where he was shot dead on the fifth level of the complex.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also arrived at the Westfield and left behind a handwritten message in the condolence book.

Security guards, Westfield staff and police officers kept a watchful eye over the centre.

Those taking photographs on their mobile phones generally focused their cameras on the memorial, rather than specific crime scenes.

The shopping centre will be open to the public on Thursday from 11am to 5pm so the community can pay their respects following the horrific stabbing on Saturday.

Six lives were lost at the hands of Joel Cauchi, 40, who ran around the centre terrorising shoppers while armed with a large knife.

He was gunned down by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott.

The six victims being honoured are new mum Ashlee Good, 38, bride-to-be Dawn Singleton, 25, mother-of-two Jade Young, 47, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, Chinese national Yixuan Cheng, 27, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30.

Community members will be able to walk through the centre on Thursday while a section will be set up to lay flowers and wreaths.

No music will be played in Westfield, and a black ribbon will instead be shown on advertising platforms.

Trading will return on Friday for stores that choose to reopen.

William and Harriette, a couple who live locally, said they had reservations about returning to the shopping centre when normal trading resumes on Friday.

‘I don’t think I’ll be back for a while,’ Harriette said.

‘It’s pretty scary that it could happen at any time, anywhere,’ William agreed.

The pair said it felt ‘very eerie’ to see Westfield so calm and quiet.

‘It’s funny to see all the shops closed,’ William said.

‘And everyone’s not looking too happy, which reflects what’s happened. It’s very sad all the women that have passed away and the security guard too.’

Premier Minns said the government is looking at the legislation around knife offences to ‘see where potential changes could help prevent a similar attack’.

Last year, the jail term for the maximum penalty for knife offences was doubled.

‘I don’t want to prejudge it, to ensure that whatever legislative and policy changes we make, they make a difference and that will take a little bit of time,’ Mr Minns said.

Rohan Anderson was forced to take cover in Fitness First when Joel Cauchi began his terrifying attack.

He also filmed the now viral footage of Cauchi running around Boost Juice.

Mr Anderson told Daily Mail Australia he heard gunshots from inside the gym on Saturday afternoon.

‘It was very sombre and very reflective in (the shopping centre) today,’ he said.

‘On the night there was a lot of emotion but in a different way. Lots of fear of the unknown.

‘I think it’s the unknown that drives the ‘what if’ scenarios and creates more fear, that’s the most shocking thing about it – you don’t know what’s going on.’

Mr Anderson said it was the right thing to do to have a day of reflection for victims.

‘I think we’re extremely lucky in Australia that (an attack like Saturday’s) is rare and we have very strong settings around weapons and particularly guns,’ he said.

‘That gives me a lot of comfort and a feeling of safety.’

He said he felt uncomfortable about weapons being in the hands of anyone, even if they were security guards.

Mr Anderson said it may be a while for locals to process what had unfolded.

‘It will take time,’ he said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has issued a warning to social media giants after graphic images were still circulating online days after the Bondi Junction massacre.

The centre opened its doors for the first time since the incident on Thursday with the Premier and Police Commissioner among the first to walk through.

He said it is a ‘major concern’ that rumours and graphic content circulated online after the stabbing and took days to be removed by content moderators.

‘To have so much unsubstantiated rumour as well as graphic content still available on public websites and social media platforms,’ Mr Minns said.

‘It proves to be very difficult to foster community cohesion and harmony to calm down the community to send messages of unity in a difficult period when social media firms still continue to disseminate terrible pieces of information.

‘We want to work with the Commonwealth Government. In my view, this is the antithesis of what we need to bring the community together and social media firms have a social and moral licence to take down divisive information and graphic content as soon as it becomes available.’

The NSW Premier said the victims’ loved ones had been ‘bowled over’ by the support from the community following the stabbing.

‘They are overwhelmed by the fact that Sydney has rallied behind them and they feel as though they are not alone,’ he said.

‘And they sense there are millions of people in their corner and hopefully that can give some small solace in a terribly dark period.’

Mr Minns said he’d spoken to some of the first responders from Saturday’s attack.

He said members of the community had gone up to thank police officers and paramedics for their work.

‘There was the first paramedic on scene on Saturday after the shift was completed, went to a pizza shop to order pizzas for the entire crew. Before he had an opportunity to pay, a young bloke pulled out his card, paid for the pizzas,’ Mr Minns told reporters.

‘When the paramedic asked his name, he would not give it and walked out the store.

‘Quiet gestures of decency to one another can hopefully be the hallmark of what has been a terrible week for New South Wales.’

One mourner, Rebecca Sommi-Fisher, said she had come to Westfield Bondi Junction on Thursday to pay her respects to the victims despite not knowing anyone involved in the attack.

‘It’s my local and it’s my community,’ she said.

‘It feels so surreal to be here. It was so respectful in there, everyone was silent like we were in a church.

‘It’s a reminder of the goodness in the world.’

Ms Sommer-Fisher said she would hate Australia to follow in America’s footsteps in having people enter malls through security gates due to the access to firearms.

However, she said she was in support of security guards being armed with tools that could ‘stop people in their tracks’ such as pepper spray.

She will continue to shop at Bondi Junction because she believes there is more good than evil in the world.

‘I will definitely come back here, this hasn’t changed things,’ she said.

‘That man was very sick. I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of – there’s a lot of goodness here.’

The vigil will be held at 5.30pm on Sunday at Bondi Beach.

Mourners walked silently around the shopping centre, paying their respects to the victims killed.

A black ribbon was shown on advertising platforms and no music played in the centre.

Mourners were encouraged to take a black ribbon to pin onto their clothes as a sign of respect.

Australian women are swooning over a French hero who picked up a bollard and bravely faced off against the Westfield Bondi Junction knifeman on Saturday afternoon.

Damien Guerot was going to the gym with fellow Frenchman Silas Despreaux when they stumbled across the scene of carnage.

Mr Guerot picked up a retractable barrier and confronted killer Joel Cauchi, 40, as he advanced menacingly up an escalator.

A security guard who was stabbed in the stomach after bravely confronting crazed knifeman Joel Cauchi during his stabbing spree has been given fresh hope from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he fights to gain Australian citizenship.

Muhammad Taha, a Pakistani migrant, was patrolling the fourth floor of the shopping mall on Saturday afternoon when Cauchi began stabbing shoppers about 3.20pm.

The PM said that he would like to thank Mr Taha for his courage and suggested that his government may allow Mr Taha to stay in Australia permanently.

Retial tenants will have their rent from last Saturday to this Friday waived, Westfield Bondi Junction’s operator Scentre Group has said.

It comes after Saturday’s deadly stabbing where six people were killed, along with the attacker.

Stores are welcome to open for trading on Friday.

A day of reflection will be held in the centre on Thursday, with stores still closed.