Milk crate heroes describe city street stabbing carnage at bravery award ceremony

Jamie Ingram was thrust back in time when he learnt of a stabbing rampage at a Sydney shopping centre.

Though he was in Brisbane on the day Joel Cauchi killed six people in a 2024 attack at Bondi Junction, he knew his wife would be nearby, and as the news trickled in, Mr Ingram felt like he was reliving his past from a different point of view.

“It was totally surreal,” he told AAP.

“I was caught up in this feeling of, ‘I’m kind of glad I’m not there’ and the feeling of, ‘God, I wish I was there to help out.”

Mr Ingram is part of quintet who will be awarded a group bravery citation from the governor-general after they used chairs and famously, a milk crate, to pin down a man trying to stab people in Sydney’s CBD.

The bank worker was raised to do everything he could to help those around him, and those instincts kicked in as Mert Ney burst onto a city street covered in blood and wielding a large knife on August 13, 2019.

He had just killed 24-year-old Michaela Dunn and stabbed 41-year-old Linda Bo, and was being corralled by firefighters and civilians when he bolted up Clarence Street.

Mr Ingram, who had just finished a ‘lunch and learn’ session nearby, picked up an outdoor dining chair and followed, catching up to Ney only a short distance from a crowded cafe.

“The realisation was, if I’m ever going to do something, I’d better do it now,” Mr Ingram said.

A member of the public shoved Ney from behind, knocking him to the ground, which allowed Mr Ingram to hold him down with the chair while Adelaide man Jase Shore, who was in Sydney on a work trip, restrained him with a milk crate.

“I don’t really remember grabbing it,” Mr Shore told AAP.

“But that’s the Australian spirit: grab what you can and work with what you’ve got.”

The moment was caught by a nearby news crew and quickly went viral.

People across the world made memes about the crate and comparisons were drawn between Australian and American gun control as the incident occurred less than two weeks after a gunman opened fire at a Texas supermarket, killing 23 people.

Praise and awards have since been heaped upon those involved, and the two men are being given their group bravery citation alongside firefighters Gonzalo Herrera, Mitchell Bennetts and Bennett Gardiner.

While the recognition has been nice, the incident has changed the way they interact with the world.

Mr Ingram has become more aware of his surroundings and often reflects on the near-misses.

“There’s so many people who were so close to being hurt and to this day, they probably still don’t know they were in the firing line,” he said.

For Mr Herrera, it was one of the few incidents he has been involved in as part of a community, rather than emergency service.

“It just shows people that band together can make a positive difference, put all differences aside and work towards a common goal of helping people,” he told AAP.

An ex-military man, Mr Shore was somewhat used to acting with no regard for his own life, but as a father to a young daughter, the death of Ms Dunn has continued to trouble him.

“I’m always concerned about where she is and what she’s doing, but I’ve got to let go of the leash,” he said.

“I’d always say it was fight or flight, and in that moment, a lot of people ran.

“If you’re not trained to approach a situation like that, there’s nothing wrong with flight - that’s the protection of life.”

The group still keeps in contact, often sending birthday messages, and they have met up on several anniversaries to remember the life of Ms Dunn.