Amy Scott, the NSW Police Inspector who is being praised for her heroics after she fatally shot Bondi mass killer Joel Cauchi on Saturday, has told colleagues that she was ‘just doing her job’ when she responded to the scene.
Scott came face to face with a knife-wielding Cauchi — who killed six innocent victims and injured 11 — at around 4pm on Saturday. According to witnesses, Scott told Cauchi to put the knife down, but he ignored her and proceeded to lunge at her so she shot him.
Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb both spoke to Scott after the tragic incident.
“She’s doing okay. I’ve spoken to her,” Webb told ABC News.
“She’s just spending some time with her family at present. A bit of privacy to work through what has been a very traumatic matter for her.
“She’s a very experienced officer, I’ve known Amy for many years. She’s been operational her whole career. We apply for this job, we’re trained for this job but we’re not often faced with it so she’ll be processing that and she will be formerly interviewed by the detectives tomorrow.”
Morton echoed Webb’s comments.
“Amy is content with what she had to do,” he said, per The Daily Telegraph.
“I spoke to her last night and again this morning and she said, ‘It was a night with not a lot of sleep’. She knows she has been tagged a hero but to her she was doing her job. I didn’t ask her about the exact incident, because she is yet to be formally interviewed.
“Everyone will be keeping an eye on her obviously, there will be a lot of support from everyone.”
Police Minister Yasmin Catley also checked in on Scott.
“I thanked her on behalf of the government and the people of NSW for her courage. She was so humble,” she said, noting that Scott made it clear that it wasn’t just her on the scene.
“There were a lot of bystanders assisting and helping people,” Catley said Scott told her.
Although she may not believe that her actions were heroic, Scott has been hailed as a hero by the likes of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
According to a witness at the scene, Scott did what she had to do, only shooting the man when he approached her aggressively. Moments after shooting him, she reportedly rushed to his aid, giving him CPR before emergency services arrived.
Cauchi died at the scene.