Pictures of the homemade fake bomb that shut down Brisbane International Airport on Saturday night have been released.
A 50-year-old man has been charged with contravening a domestic violence order, stalking with a weapon, stealing and seriously assaulting police.
He’s also facing charges of pretending to plan to damage or destroy a government-owned air facility, making a bomb hoax, and common assault.
The man allegedly yelled in Arabic and claimed to have a bomb on the night, which led to the airport being evacuated and police being called in.
He also allegedly chased a woman through the terminal while holding a knife, as terrified screams rang out from other travellers.
A 50-year-old man, from Surfers Paradise, has been charged after allegedly claiming to have a bomb at Brisbane International Airport and allegedly threatening a woman with a knife
The man also alleged to have a bomb (pictured) which contained wires, screens and what appears to be a button
The man’s wife, mother-in-law and two children were reportedly planning to leave Brisbane when the incident unfolded.
Images released of the homemade device showed a black box with a yellow rectangle containing a screen secured to the top.
Wires were seen around the box, with some seen coming out of it.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the design of the box: ‘Indicates the extraordinary lengths a person has gone to, to create a perception of risk, threat and fear’.
The man, who has not yet been named, is known to police.
The man (pictured) has been charged with multiple offences, including contravening a domestic violence order and making a fake bomb threat
A woman wearing a hijab could be heard screaming for help as a man chased her, Boon Heng Ong told the Courier Mail.
‘They were heading towards outside the airport, and then he just pulled out the knife. It was quite big, 15-20 cm,’ they alleged.
‘He stopped running and turned around and walked back to a table in the food court. He grabbed something out of his luggage. It was a black box like a small toolbox.’
The man was recorded by fearful onlookers holding a metal box with exposed wiring. He had allegedly claimed to be carrying a bomb.
Travellers had to flee as police evacuated the building, forcing flights and connecting trains to come to a sudden halt.
Australian Federal Police and Queensland police stormed the airport about 10.15pm as an emergency situation was declared.
The airport was evacuated and trains were halted after police declared an emergency situation, which ended at 11pm
Pictured: Would-be travellers were forced to evacuate the airport as police investigated reports of a bomb threat
After the airport was evacuated, officers examined the suspicious device the man had allegedly claimed was a bomb, but found it to be non-suspicious.
The exclusion zone was revoked at 11pm, but police then closed off the Bruce Bishop Carpark in Surfers Paradise just after midnight as a precaution.
The man had reportedly made threats about the carpark, which reopened at 1.45am.
A police officer at the scene told the Courier Mail there was a vehicle linked to him in the carpark, and he appeared to have had ‘some sort of detonator’.
The man, an Australian resident who is believed to be from the Middle East, was taken into custody from the airport after he was shot with a beanbag round.
He was not seriously injured.
Brisbane Airport said in a tweet: ‘The Australian Federal Police is managing the incident and we hope to get back to normal operations as soon as possible’
During a press conference, Superintendent Tony Fleming said it was a ‘domestic incident’ and not terror-related.
He said there was concern that the man had an explosive device – however, that was not the case.
‘There is absolutely no evidence that this is a matter related to terrorism.’
Superintendent Fleming said people who are known to the man were giving evidence.
‘This has been quite a dramatic to those people.’
Police, paramedics and fire crews were in attendance after reports of a man brandishing a knife and making bomb threats
The 50-year-old man alleged to have threatened a woman with a knife and made bomb threats is now facing a multitude of charges