There are few times in the life of an ordinary person that they are witness to events of national significance. Yesterday was one of those days in my life.
At around 9am a frantic man entered a law office in the Parramatta Justice Precinct (an area that houses the Local Court, Family Court,Children's Court, the Trial Courts and dozens of law offices). He was asking after a certain lawyer, who did not work in that office. He had his 11 year old daughter with him.
When the office clerk advised the man that the lawyer he sought did not work there, the man lashed out. He threw books across the room and then shouted at the clerk to call the Attorney General as he had a bomb. He took his daughter and locked himself in an office. The police were called. We knew none of this until much later.
I was stopped at the traffic lights at the corner when three police cars screamed past. I parked my car and walked back to the Justice Precinct area to go to Court.
I saw a number of police on the footpath out the front of a building. Two of my close friends have offices in that building and I was a little nervous. I called their mobile phones and neither answered.
I entered the Courthouse and began my day. A colleague arrived and told me the road had been closed off. A quick glance out the window revealed blue and white police tape across the street and a stream of people being evacuated from a nearby building.
We kept about our business. I was in and out of Court with several minor matters. The next time I glanced out the window I saw a completely different picture.
Fire trucks, the SWAT team and several ambulances lined the street. Word had filtered up from the street that a man had a child as a hostage across the street. He also had a bomb.
We expected to be evacuated at every moment. News vans and helicopters arrived. The TV in the Court foyer had rolling news coverage of the siege. In a bizarre parallel we watched the events unfold in real time out the window with the news commentary playing on the TV.
As the TV coverage became increasingly alarming, several of us decided to call our family to confirm we were safe. I called Glenn and my parents, neither of who had seen the news. They immediately panicked!
As the day wore on we all anxiously anticipated being evacuated. Sheriffs advised us we were safer in the Courthouse as the (very modern and post 9/11) building was reinforced against truck bombs.
We stayed in the Courthouse and watched events through the window. I received calls from family and friends worried I was involved in the siege.
I continued to worry about my two friends. At about 12pm one missing friend entered the court foyer where we were congregating. She had been in a different court room and had no idea her office was the centre of a hostage drama. The physical reaction of relief I felt when I saw her confirmed how anxious and panicked I had been. Her colleague was safe and working from home.
I was so relieved my friends were safe, but was still acutely aware that there was a man with a bomb and a child hostage only metres away.
I was fixed to the window, watching the emergency service workers moving about. I was mesmerized, transfixed. Every muscle in my body was tight, waiting for an explosion.
At lunch we went out into the street. We were behind the cordon, but the police let us roam about. A nearby cafe had a trolley of sandwiches and a bunch of us enjoyed an al fresco lunch in the sunshine on a gorgeous Spring day.....mere metres from a hostage siege. It was surreal.
We stayed close together, a motley bunch of lawyers, friends and foes, united by a common and unseen adversary.
At 4pm the Courthouse was finally evacuated. I have no idea why they chose that time, or why they waited so long. I did not stick around to ask questions!
I fled to my car and headed for home. Later that night it was reported that the child was "rescued" shortly before the SWAT team broke the door in with chainsaws. Footage showed the young girl being dragged from the building by police, screaming out for her father.
Here are the pictures I took from the window at court.
Today we learned there was no bomb. Just a violent and disturbed man with a criminal history. He had tried to get into see the Attorney General the previous day.
My friends still cannot enter their office today. Police had used gas which needs to clear and the forensics team are still working to process all the evidence.
The proximity of the events yesterday to the anniversary of 9/11 was the unspoken companion to us all.
Our lives are forever changed by those events ten years ago.
Should I be glad that my courthouse is reinforced against truck bombs? Should that make me feel safer?
I am not sure that it does.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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