Fugitive duo cause suburb lockdown for 20 hours
A Gold Coast suburb was forced into emergency lockdown for nearly 20 hours so police could continue negotiating with two armed and wanted men locked inside a house at Nerang.
The pair, who were arrested soon after 11am on Thursday, prompted police to set up an exclusion zone late on Wednesday afternoon, with residents ordered to stay inside, neighbours evacuated.
A nearby school, St Brigid’s Primary School, is closed. Queensland Ambulance crews are also on standby.
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Police thanked the community as residents were able to return to their homes.
Gold Coast Acting Chief Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said there were initially several people inside the home who were “associates” of the men, but they have left the property and only the two men remain inside.
“We’re going to peacefully negotiate this as best we can and for as long as it takes,” Sheldon said.
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Police went to the duplex on Rimu Place at Nerang, where they suspected the men were hiding, on Wednesday afternoon to issue ‘return to prison’ warrants.
The warrants followed breaches of conditions imposed on the men for firearm and drug offences. One of the men had hacked off his GPS tracking ankle monitor. Both were considered dangerous and had been evading police for about two weeks.
It is believed the men are also connected to two shootings on the Gold Coast within 36 hours earlier this week.
The first shocking incident involved the random shooting at a family heading out to go bowling at Coolangatta on Saturday.
The 55-year-old man, his 51-year-old wife and 13-year-old son were in their car when it was hit, grazing the man in the neck.
“There was a massive bang and I looked to the left and I felt my whole body be pushed forward and I looked to the left and saw a hole,” the male victim said.
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“I said I think we’ve been shot and then I felt the back of my neck and there was blood and I said, ‘I’ve been hit’.”
His wife said the family was in shock after the horrifying incident.
“I couldn’t understand that we could be shot driving through Coolangatta on a Saturday night,” she said.
“Mums and dads and 13-year-old kids don’t get shot in Coolangatta at twilight on a Saturday night. We were going bowling. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening at the time.”
In a second incident, multiple shots were fired at the Arundel Police Beat in a drive-by shooting around 3:45am Monday. The bullets hit the Police Beat’s wooden front-door and a police vehicle parked outside the property. No one was injured during the incident.
Regional crime co-ordinator Detective Acting Superintendent Chris Ahern this morning said the overnight emergency was ongoing with police aiming to minimise the threat and impacts on locals.
“We’d ask members of the public avoid that area,” Ahern said.
He said the incident was not gang related.
The exclusion zone covers Riverpark Drive, McLaren Road, Kopwhai Place and Inverness Street.
“At this stage we’re focused on getting those two people out of that place safely and ensuring the safety of our people and all the residents in that area,” Ahern said.
