Horrified witnesses have recalled the dramatic arrest of a man who allegedly gunned down a woman in a car with two teens before a Good Samaritan was also wounded.
Emergency services were called to the Robb Place home in South Mackay in central Queensland just after 4.30pm on Wednesday following reports a woman had been shot.
Police arrived to find a 34-year-old woman dead at the scene and a 66-year-old man seriously injured with an gunshot wound to the chest.
The alleged gunman, 31, was arrested three hours later at a fast food drive-through and service station in the neighbouring suburb of Paget.
He was taken into custody and is assisting police with their inquiries. No charges have yet been laid.
Harrowing new details have emerged that the woman had driven to the home when the man allegedly approached the car and allegedly discharged a firearm.
Police have arrested a 31-year-old man alleged to have gunned down a woman and seriously injured a Good Samaritan in South Mackay on Tuesday (pictured, police at the scene)
The incident forced police to plunge the surrounding area into a lockdown as they searched for the alleged gunman (pictured, exclusion zone)
District Officer Superintendent Graeme Paine said the two teens in the vehicle fled and sought refuge in a nearby home.
‘It is an absolutely shocking thing to have experienced,’ he told reporters on Wednesday night.
‘They were obviously very fearful and have gone and sought help.’
He also revealed that the Good Samaritan, rushed to the aid of the woman when the alleged gunman opened fire on him and struck him in the ‘upper sternum’.
He was rushed to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
It’s unknown what type of firearm was involved.
Police issued issued a Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) about 5.20pm, locking down an area bound by Robb Place and Paradise, Archibald, Kindermar and Denton streets.
The PSPA was still in place late into Wednesday night as police launched forensic examination.
Superintendent Paine said investigators are yet to uncover details relating to a motive for the alleged shooting but are ‘running out a number of different inquiries’.
‘There is nothing in our investigations to indicate that the parties are known to each other at this stage, however we do believe they reside in fairly close proximity,’ he said.
‘We don’t know exactly what’s happened obviously from the time the incident’s occurred to the time police arrived. There is a fairly short period.’
Police have established a number of crime scenes including on Robb Place and BP/KFC service station where the alleged gunman’s car was located.
A 66-year-old Good Samaritan was also allegedly shot in the ‘upper sternum’ and was rushed to hospital in a serious but stable condition (pictured, police at the scene)
Police revealed two teens in the car fled into a nearby home on Robb Place (pictured) when a man allegedly opened fire
Mechanic Tyler Camilleri arrived at the service station just moments before police swarmed the store and arrested the alleged gunman.
‘I heard the brakes of one of the cop cars go off and I thought that’s a bit weird so I turned around and saw about four, five, six cop cars pull up at the same time,’ he told the Courier Mail.
‘They all get out and they are all screaming ‘Put the gun down, you’re under arrest, stop, you know all that kind of stuff.’
‘He seemed to have put it down pretty quickly the moment he saw all the coppers.’
Mr Camilleri knew police were looking for someone after his mother called him to tell him to ‘stay away from South Mackay’.
‘And then boom all this happened. Mum’s not going to like that,’ he said.
Witnesses recalled six police cars pulling into the BP/KFC in neighbouring Paget (pictured) to arrest the alleged gunman after his car was identified in the drive-through
Joseph Romal who lives on one of the streets locked down returned home at 5pm but was turned away by police.
Members of the public have been urged to avoid the exclusion area while residents already at home have been told to stay indoors until further notice.
Images from the scene show police diverting traffic while officers scoured the area.
Queensland Police thanked residents affected by the emergency situation for their ‘patience and understanding while this matter is ongoing’.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact police.
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