Two arrested after shot fired at police helicopter
Andrew Stafford |
A man is alleged to have rammed a police vehicle and fired a shot at a POLAIR helicopter in a wild chase over hundreds of kilometres in which multiple vehicles were stolen.
Police have charged two men with a string of firearms, arson and theft offences from August 24 to 27 between Childers, in Queensland’s Wide Bay region, and Noosa on the Sunshine Coast.
The chase kicked off after about 9am on Monday when multiple firearms were alleged to have been stolen from an address in Childers.
The men are then alleged to have stolen a white Mitsubishi Triton from another address in Bli Bli, which was later set on fire at Lake MacDonald, on the Sunshine Coast early on Thursday.
It is alleged the same offenders then stole a silver Nissan Maxima from Lake MacDonald Drive in Cooroy shortly after 3am.
The driver then allegedly rammed a police vehicle after being intercepted at a service station in Nambour at 11am on Thursday.
The passenger, a 44-year-old West Gladstone man, exited the vehicle and was taken into custody, while the driver fled and was tailed by police allegedly driving dangerously north on the Bruce Highway.
The vehicle was intercepted a second time at Honey Myrtle Road in Noosa Heads, where it is alleged the man fired a single shot towards a POLAIR helicopter and a police vehicle with a long-armed firearm.
The man is then alleged to have fled the scene on foot before unlawfully entering a residence and menacing a woman at gunpoint before stealing her vehicle – a brown Toyota Yaris – at gunpoint.
“She is quite distraught as you can imagine,” said Sunshine Coast police Inspector John Mahony.
“We’re fairly uncertain there will be other community members who will have been directly impacted.
“They too will be suffering but we encourage those people to approach police.”
Insp Mahony said the actions of police were “incredibly courageous”.
“They came face to face with a desperate male offender in possession of a high-calibre firearm.”
The woman was uninjured.
A 21-year-old man from Hervey Bay was taken into custody after finally being apprehended at 12.30pm.
Multiple firearms and a large knife were seized from the vehicle.
An emergency declaration was made under the Public Safety Preservation Act and was revoked a short time later.
The 21-year-old man has been charged with 30 offences including three counts of serious assault of a police officer as well as burglary, armed robbery, weapons and arson offences.
The 44-year-old man has been charged with 15 offences including one count of serious assault of a police officer plus weapons, arson and burglary offences.
The men are both expected to appear in Maroochydore Magistrates Court later on Friday.
AAP