Summary
We are going to wrap up our live coverage of this incident here. But before we do, this is what we now know about the fatal shooting:
- A man, dressed in dark clothes, allegedly shot an unsworn NSW Police officer at close range as that officer was leaving work at the Charles Street police complex, Parramatta, at 4.30pm. The officer was killed with a single shot.
- That man remained outside the police complex and apparently fired a few more shots at a NSW Police special constable before a number of other special came outside the station. Police shot back and the man was killed.
- There is nothing at this stage to suggest any links to terrorism - the gunman appeared to have been acting alone and deliberately targeted the unsworn officer, although police aren’t yet sure why.
- The investigation will be treated as a standard coronial investigation and led by the homicide squad, but counter-terrorism officers will assist because police are “keeping an open mind”.
- The gunman has not yet been identified. The unsworn officer has not been named because his family is yet to be notified.
- There is no ongoing threat to public safety.
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Scipione said it was possible the gunman hung around after the unsworn officer was killed because he wanted to commit “suicide by cop”.
He had this to say when asked about the emotional toll of losing an officer:
Look, there’s no way you can describe the feeling that comes with being told you have an officer that’s been killed. Doesn’t matter whether they’re sworn or un-sworn.
This man was simply leaving work this afternoon and he was gunned down. He was murdered on this street, this very street.
There is no worse feeling as a commissioner. We’ve just been through Police Remembrance Day, only Tuesday of this week, and here we are on Friday having to deal with this.
He continued:
Let me assure you anyone that thinks that they’re in the business of injuring or in fact killing an officer of the NSW police force needs to understand they will be dealt with with the full force of the law.
At this early stage, Scipione said, it appears that the incident was one lone gunman, acting in isolation, and there’s nothing to suggest that anyone else might be involved. But there’s also nothing to rule it out because as yet they have not been able to identify the gunman. He provides a bit more clarity on the gunman’s attire, which has been the subject of a number of news reports. It was, “a long pair of long trousers and a flowing top”.
Scipione also provided some clarification on the assertion that the NSW Police employee, who was an unsworn police officer, was “deliberately targeted”.
Reporter: What you said about deliberately targeted, what leads you to say that?
Scipione: The footage that I’ve viewed shows that this particular man was certainly targeted.
Reporter: And can you confirm that he was shot at point-blank range?
Scipione: Certainly it was very close range.
Scipione said police are “keeping an open mind” about the motive behind the attack, but that NSW police had re-circulated its safety warnings to police officers this afternoon. That’s the warning that was strengthened in light of heightened “terrorism chatter” last year.
He declined to comment on reports that there had been an increase in that kind of chatter in recent days.
At this stage we’ve got nothing to link this event to any terrorist-related activity, but we could not say that that wasn’t the case.
So clearly, you would understand, we have officers from within the counter-terrorism command working alongside homicide, but this is a homicide investigation led by homicide, and we will be certainly reporting to the coroner and at this stage we want to stay right there until we get some further information.
Scipione said there was no threat to the broader NSW community.
Scipione said the NSW police employee appeared to have been deliberately targeted by the gunman.
An employee of the NSW police force has been callously murdered here today. This is a very sobering time for us, and I have viewed a number of pieces of footage, I can tell you that this was a brutal crime. It was a terrible crime.
I can also tell you that the police officers exhibited enormous bravery. Those special constables who responded were brave, and they were very professional.
Scipione says that, “obviously this is very distressing for us all.”
Currently we’re attempting to identify a man who was seen to approach the victim and discharge one single shot. Subsequently, the assailant remained in the street here in Charles Street before he fired several further shots at a special constable.
A number of special constables have come out of the building and as they’ve emerged they’ve come under fire. In the exchange that followed the gunman was shot and killed.
Andrew Scipione, the commissioner of police for NSW, is addressing the media near the Parramatta police complex.
I can confirm that a NSW police force civilian employee has been shot dead… he was simply leaving work
His relatives have not yet been informed.
We are expecting to hear from the commissioner of police, Andrew Scipione, in the next few minutes. In the mean time, Monica Tan reports that police are conducting a line search of Charles Street.
She writes:
The riot police are doing a very close inspection of Charles street not far from the crime scene. There are around 12 officers standing in a row walking in unison with their torches to the ground. They appear to be searching for something and occasionally pause when one officer crouches to take a closer look.
Channel 9’s Airlie Walsh caught it on video:
Police conduct line search on Charles St, Parramatta. #9News pic.twitter.com/UAtMIkiMu8
— Airlie Walsh (@AirlieWalsh) October 2, 2015
Another eyewitness has told reporters that he heard seven or eight shots, in two bursts.
There was four shots fired first and there was a silence of 15, 20 seconds, and then there were another four shots fired, I think.
There’s still a bit of activity behind the police cordon.
An ambulance has just driven away. Two police vans remain. I've seen least two police dogs. #ParramattaShooting pic.twitter.com/4hxQMmiau9
— Monica Tan (@m_onicatan) October 2, 2015
Andrew Scipione, the NSW commissioner of police, is reportedly at the scene at Parramatta and being briefed to address the media.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione is at the scene of the #Parramatta shooting. Expected to address media shortly. @9NewsSyd
— Kelly Fedor (@KellyFedor) October 2, 2015
Commissioner Andrew Scipione has all three deputies with him and is currently being briefed on #Parramatta shooting. @9NewsSyd
— Kelly Fedor (@KellyFedor) October 2, 2015
What we know so far
While we wait for NSW Police to address the media, which I am told will happen “shortly”, here’s a quick recap of what has been confirmed so far.
- Two people have died following a shooting outside the NSW Police headquarters on Charles Street, Parramatta.
- Witnesses heard between six and eight shots.
- Some of those shots were fired by a NSW Police officer, who, according to a police statement, fired his gun when “responding to a report that a person had been shot”.
- The police statement does not explicitly say there was a civilian shooter, although every report from the scene suggests there was. It also does not explicitly say that the two people killed died from gunshot wounds, although, again, that could be assumed from other reports.
- There is no confirmation about the identity of either deceased person and no confirmation on reports that one of the people killed was the original gunman who, remember, is not actually mentioned in the police statement.
Obviously police are being rather circumspect. That’s the standard response whenever an officer is involved (and I’m using involved in the vaguest sense because that police statement doesn’t give me much choice) in a fatal shooting.
I won’t go into reports about what the man identified by eyewitnesses as carrying a gun was wearing or what he looked like.
Reinforcements have arrived in the form of about a dozen public order and riot squad police officers.
More video footage has emerged of the moments just after the shooting. This video was taken from a building opposite the police headquarters.
People who can be heard talking on the video sound pretty shocked.
“Is he dead?”
“He is now.”
My colleague, Monica Tan, has spoken to a couple that live on Charles Street but were, when she spoke to them, unable to return to their home. She has filed this update:
Tony Hong and his wife Miffy live in the building opposite the police station. With the street cordoned off they are currently unable to return to their home. Their 8 month old baby and Miffy’s mother are trapped inside, with the street cordoned off by police.
“We don’t know what’s happening, so we’re pretty worried. We’ve been waiting for more than an hour,” Tony said.
Miffy Hong told Monica that her mother heard what sounded to be five or six shots, which were so loud that they woke the baby.
This was the scene at Parramatta earlier this evening. The footage is from the Channel 7 News police helicopter.
This is Dennis Entriken, one of the parents waiting to pick up their child from a childcare centre that remains on lock-down inside the police cordon.
Updated
Monica Tan has sent through this report from Charles Street:
I‘m standing about 100m away from the police building. A small section of the street between Macquarie and Hassall on Charles Streets has been cordoned off and is being manned by a dozen police. I watched them remove at least one body covered in a white sheet although witnesses have said they saw two bodies.
There is a small group of residents who have gathered, unable to return home. Many of them have loved ones and family members in the building.
Next to the police station is a childcare centre, where children and staff remain trapped inside. Dennis Entriken and his wife have a 3 and a 1/2 year old daughter in the centre and have been waiting since 5 o’clock after learning about the incident. They are feeling worried and frustrated.
“We don’t know whether they were inside or outside playing when it happened, or what they saw. We just know they’re safe,” he said.
Parallels are, of course, being drawn between this shooting and the mass shooting at Umpqua community college in Roseburg, Oregon, on Thursday, where a 26-year-old man killed as many as nine people before being killed himself.
You have probably heard Barrack Obama’s powerful speech, following the shooting, which praised Australia and the UK as “countries like ours” that have managed to introduce gun laws to reduce the number of mass shootings.
And, if you’re on the internet, you have probably also seen people linking Obama’s speech to the incident in Parramatta, to argue that Australia’s gun laws don’t work. It’s worth remembering that there have not been any mass shootings (that’s three or more killed) in a public place since the restrictive gun laws were introduced, following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
My colleague, Monica Tan, is at the scene. She spoke to a man who is anxiously waiting outside the police tape to get his daughter out of childcare. The childcare centre is inside the police cordon. He told Monica that there were a number of children at the childcare centre and that parents have not yet been allowed to collect them.
Updated
NSW Police have released a statement about the incident:
A critical incident investigation has been launched following the death of two people at Parramatta.
The incident occurred outside the NSW Police headquarters building on Charles Street about 4.30pm today (Friday 2 October 2015), after a number of shots were fired.
It appears an officer has discharged his weapon, responding to a report that a person had been shot.
Two people have died at the scene.
The statement says that a crime scene has been established and a critical incident team, which is called in whenever someone dies in the presence of police, will “investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident.”
On reports identifying the deceased, the statement says:
Police are yet to establish the identity of the deceased.
A critical incident investigation is underway after two people died after incident o/s NSW PHQ http://t.co/Huj3ZsZ8Up
— NSW Police (@nswpolice) October 2, 2015
It’s getting dark in Parramatta now, still no official confirmation from police.
Streets are still closed off in Parramatta, still waiting to hear from police @abcnews @abcnewsSydney pic.twitter.com/FfQW8c9PvR
— Thuy Ong (@ThuyOng) October 2, 2015
There’s still a 2km exclusion zone around NSW Police headquarters in Charles Street, Parramatta, according to Channel 9 news reporter Airlie Walsh. Walsh told 2GB that a number of businesses and apartments within that zone remain on lock-down, with people stuck inside.
It’s understood NSW Police will hold a press conference of some sort shortly, although as with all things in this situation, “shortly” is a fluid term.
Edwin Almeida, the real estate agent who spoke to AAP, has also spoken to 2GB radio. His office is directly opposite the NSW Police HQ, and he told 2GB that when he heard what sounded like gunshots he told his staff that it was probably just something falling off the scaffolding from a nearby building site.
When he looked outside, Almeida said, he saw someone with a gun.
It was almost surreal, it looked like something you would see… one of those big guns that Magnum would have.
Here’s that video from the Channel Seven helicopter. (You may need to scroll down.)
Updated
While we’re waiting for NSW police to confirm all these reports that are flying around, here’s a thought from Sydney Morning Herald crime editor Nick Ralston.
Detectives at Parramatta had previously been warned to carry their guns on them at all times. Even if just stepping out for lunch.
— Nick Ralston (@NickDRalston) October 2, 2015
This report has just come through from AAP:
Real estate agent Edwin Almeida told AAP he saw a man with a gun screaming and pacing up and down outside the building, before seeing the man lying on the ground with a police officer pointing a gun at him.
“We looked out the window, saw security guards and what appeared to be a plain clothes police officer with gun drawn pointing at the person that was now lying on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood,” he said.
There are a number of reports identifying two people allegedly killed in the shooting. Again, we will refrain from publishing those details until we have independent confirmation.
Channel 9 News has spoken to a witness who runs a business on Charles Street. In an interview that was relayed on 2GB radio, he claimed he saw a man running up the street wielding a gun while trying to get his employees indoors.
“One of them ran back and said there’s a man running up and down the street, there’s a gunman running up and down the street firing at people.
I sort of heard another three shots. As I looked out the door to open the door for my staff to come in the building… I actually saw the man running up the street wielding a gun, a handgun.”
Everything is quite vague at this stage, but what does seem consistent across the reports is that the shooting occurred near the Charles St police headquarters around 4.30pm.
Witness Vijay Dantu says he saw two men enter Police HQ in #Parramatta before gunfire was exchanged. pic.twitter.com/A8G4DD5NTI
— Mohamed Taha (@Mo_Taha1) October 2, 2015
Updated
There are a lot of reports coming through, very few that we have been able to independently confirm. NSW Police have not confirmed anything at this stage, other than a). there was a critical incident, and b). could pedestrians please avoid Charles Street.
Any reports identifying the alleged shooter(s) or victims, or their motivation, we will steer clear of until we get confirmation.
Footage from the Channel 7 helicopter, seen here on Mashable, shows what appears to be two bodies lying under sheets.
Two people shot outside Australian police headquarters: Two people have been shot outside the police headquart... http://t.co/QXpsRAsdj4
— Soy Becario (@soybecario) October 2, 2015
Local Parramatta News reporter Cathy Morris is also at the scene. She says the roadblock seems to be centred around police headquarters, and witnesses report hearing multiple shots.
Police blocking streets around police headquarters #parramatta. Witness heard at least 6 shots. pic.twitter.com/fZchYTpDS3
— Cathy Morris (@CathyMorris11) October 2, 2015
ABC reporter, Mohamad Taha, is at the scene. This is what you can see from outside the police tape.
Witnesses say they saw 2 bodies outside Police HQ on Charles St #Parramatta. Road closed. pic.twitter.com/xpvDqBRT5H
— Mohamed Taha (@Mo_Taha1) October 2, 2015
Roads closed at Charles St #Parramatta. Police & paramedics on scene. pic.twitter.com/PlQirZAGL9
— Mohamed Taha (@Mo_Taha1) October 2, 2015
For those not from Sydney, this is where the apparent shooting took place.
According to ABC radio reporter Mohamed Taha, there are more than a dozen police vehicles at the incident on Charles Street, Parramatta. Taha says that witnesses have described seeing two bodies on the ground.
A spokeswoman for NSW Police a few minutes ago said that there was an “active police operation...in the vicinity of Police headquarters”. Members of the public have been advised to steer clear of Charles Street, Hassall Street and Wigram Street.
Good afternoon and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live blog of what, at this stage, is reported to be a double shooting near the NSW Police headquarters on Charles Street, Parramatta, in western Sydney. At this stage NSW Police have not confirmed that the shooting was fatal, but there are reports that two people are dead. Stay with us.
Updated
