4 dead, 1 injured in motel shooting in Darwin, Australia - Gunman arrested
Neda Vanovac
ABC
Wed, 05 Jun 2019 11:05 UTC
© ABC News: Clara Latter
The alleged gunman is being held at Royal Darwin Hospital.
The 45-year-old suspect, who witnesses said was armed with a pump-action shotgun,
started his shooting spree at a motel in the CBD about 5:45pm before travelling in a ute to four other locations, including to the outskirts of the city and back again.
He was arrested after calling NT Police and trying to enter police headquarters in what Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said may have been an attempt to hand himself in.
The man was known to police, having been released on parole in January, and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet.
NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner told a media conference the incident
was not believed to be terror-related.
"This is not the Darwin we know," he said.
"On behalf of Territorians, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and everybody else who has been impacted.
"I understand when an event like this occurs, especially considering recent global events, people's fears turn to terrorism. We can confirm this is not a terrorism event."
The alleged gunman is being held at Royal Darwin Hospital.
"I believe he may have some sort of injury," Commissioner Kershaw said.
NT Health confirmed two people were at the Royal Darwin Hospital in a stable condition.
Multiple witnesses said the man walked into the Palms Motel on McMinn Street at about 5:45pm while
holding a pump-action shotgun, and fired at multiple doors.
They said he was looking for someone called "Alex".
"He shot up every room in that place," one man said.
"He got what he wanted and then he left in his pick-up.
We watched him walk from room to room, shooting every room."
He said
the victims said "they had no idea why he was there, why he was shooting at them, it appeared to be a random attack".
Another witness said he saw the shooter walking calmly though the motel.
"Cops went straight past him, didn't know who he was, he was that calm," he said.
The gunman then fled the scene and remained at large for approximately an hour, with road blocks in place around the city.
More than 100 police were involved in the operation.
Police listed four other crime scenes including the Buffalo Club at Stuart Park and Gardens Crescent Road at The Gardens.
Witnesses described a fight breaking out at the Buffalo Club carpark, where a man was believed to have died after a fight involving a knife and gun.
Other witnesses said a man was shot in the head at Gardens Crescent Road, however this has not yet been confirmed by authorities.
A man was also believed to have been killed at an industrial block on Jolly Street in Woolner.
Another crime scene is the Peter Macauley Centre, which is NT Police headquarters in the outer Darwin suburb of Berrimah.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in London ahead of D-Day commemorations, condemned the "terrible act of violence" and said he had spoken on the phone with Mr Gunner.
"I want to extend my deep condolences and sympathy to all the people in the Territory, particularly in Darwin," Mr Morrison said.
"This is a very tight community and I know they will be rocked by these events."
Commissioner Kershaw said police were investigating whether the man was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and whether the attack was premeditated.
"The safety of our community comes first for our officers, we're here to serve and protect and that's what they did this evening," he said.
Jasmine Kielly and her partner Brendon Ozanne moved to Darwin a week ago from Brisbane and were staying at the Palms Motel.
"I heard some loud banging, silly me went out the front to check," she told the ABC.
"As I've gone down towards the stairs, I saw a man in a high-vis shirt walk out with a rifle.
"He's turned to look at me and I've run to the bedroom and locked the door and we hid in the bathroom and we called the police and just heard shot after shot after shot."
She and her partner hid in the shower for about 40 minutes.
Jasmine Kielly and Brendon Ozanne who hid from a gunman on a rampage in Darwin.
"We heard him walk up the stairs at one point and I kind of just thought that was it," Ms Kielly said.
"He had a pretty good shot if he wanted to hit me and he didn't even aim the gun at me; he was there for a reason."
She said the gunman had apparently been staying at the motel but had recently been kicked out by the owners.
'She was bleeding everywhere'
Witness Leah Potter said a woman was shot in the legs at the Palms Motel before being taken away by an ambulance.
"I was in the carpark [of a neighbouring hotel] when I heard what I thought were fireworks going off, really loud cracking, banging fireworks," she said.
"And then a man came running with a woman in his arms from next door, which is the Palms Motel, and he just dropped her on the footpath right in front of us.
"I ran and got some towels and wrapped up her legs, she had little holes all in her skin on both her legs and she was bleeding everywhere."
Ms Potter said police were across the road at a Coles Express service station for another matter, "so the boyfriend dropped the bleeding woman in front of us and he ran over to the Coles Express to get the police".
She said the gunman had a pump-action shotgun and ran off down Finniss St towards The Gardens.
Witness Matt James said the woman's boyfriend "told me he opened his door and there was this random gunman standing there who proceeded to unload his rounds on her".
'He shot up all the rooms'
Another witness said he spoke to a resident of the motel who was "pretty shaken up".
"He was asleep, heard all the banging and opened the door and the guy was there with his gun, and he just said 'where's Alex?' and he said 'I don't know where he is'," the man said.
"And he [the gunman] said, 'no worries,' and turned around and started shooting the place up again."
Another witness, John Rose, said he saw the gunman walk into the Palms Motel with "a sawn-off shotgun".
"He shot up all the rooms and he went to every room looking for somebody and he shot them all up, then we saw him rush out, jump into his Toyota pick-up, and rush off," he said.
He said the gunman was calm as he shot up the motel.
"Once he left we went in and found one gentleman, he's over there, we pulled him out," Mr Rose said.
"This lady turned up and started screaming, and we didn't realise there was another person in there... apparently he's dead, he's been shot."
heavy.com
nypost.com
www.standard.co.uk
