One dead, two wounded in Melbourne CBD shooting
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18th June 2007 8:15AM
A HUGE manhunt is under way for a gunman who killed one person and injured two others in the heart of Melbourne's CBD this morning.
Much of the centre of Melbourne is in lockdown as police search for the gunman who fled on foot east of the city after the shooting.
Eyewitnesses saw the man drag a woman out of a cab on the corner of Flinders Lane and William Stree in the city just after 8am.
Two bystanders apparently came to help the woman, only for the aggressor to pull a handgun and shoot all three.
A police spokesman said a male had died in the shooting and a man and a woman had been taken to hospital.
Ambulance officers have placed a sheet over a body at the scene of the shooting, near the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street.
Cherie Harding, a worker in the Rialto building opposite the shooting scene, said several of her colleagues heard up to four shots.
Ms Harding said she saw ambulances at the scene and stretchers being used to transport patients.
“There are a few people here who heard them (gunshots),” she said.
Police said they were now searching for the gunman in Melbourne's city district.
Ambulance spokesman James Howe earlier told of paramedics trying to resuscitate a critically injured victim at the scene.
He believed the gunshot wounds were in the victims' upper bodies.
Melbourne's city centre was in shutdown as police searched the area for the gunman, with offices sealed off and people kept away from nearby workplaces.
Witness Carly, who is in the Rialto building on Collins Street, said people in her building had been told not to move.
“We've just been told that none of our people who are waiting downstairs to come upstairs can come up,” Carly told 3AW.
“They've blocked off all the access to the floors in our building because they're still looking for the shooter.
“We're not allowed to go anywhere and no-one is allowed to come up into the building.”
Carly said she had heard six or seven shots about 8.15am, coming from the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street.
Police Inspector Glenn Weir asked people in the area not to panic.
“There is an extensive search underway to try and find the offender at the moment,” Insp Weir said.
“There are numerous police attending to the search within the vicinity of the incident and there is a large cordon and containment operation underway as we speak.
“We are just asking the public not to panic and assist police if requested and if you have no business being in the vicinity of Flinders Lane and William Street please keep out of the area.”
The gunman is described as wearing black jeans and a denim jacket, with short light brown hair.
Inspector Weir said it appeared the gunman knew the victims.
“There is no suggestion this is a random act - it appears there was a relation with the gunman and the victims, so we are asking people not to panic,” he told ABC radio.
Malcolm Bates, a witness, said before the shooting broke out the gunman grabbed a woman by the neck as she sat in a taxi, and tried to get into the vehicle.
“The lady got away and he turned and shot three people basically point blank,” Mr Bates said. “I was right across the road.”
He told ABC radio the gunman then ran down Flinders Lane toward the city centre.
He said the whole scenario took no longer than “the wink of an eye”.
Police wearing bullet-proof vests were scouring the area, and police helicopters hovered overhead.
Insp Weir said the last confirmed sighting of the gunman was east of the shooting scene, on Flinders Lane.
The Victoria Police homicide squad this morning took over the investigation as the police Special Operations Group joined the search for the gunman.
Police have blocked off a number of city streets until further notice and have also begun evacuating some buildings.
Police said a handgun had been found a short time ago at a Melbourne city construction site near where the three people were shot.
The gun was found at the construction site on the corner of Flinders and Queens streets they said, but had yet to confirm if it was the one used in the shooting spree.
www.theaustralian.news.com.au
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what is the world coming to ?!
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Damn scary nia.. I live right beside the CBD...
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so many forumers in Melbourne
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My sis sms-ed me scared stiff.. the place's just a few blocks away from her school
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Are you implying that one of them might be the gunman?Originally posted by laurence82:so many forumers in Melbourne 
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Hey, it wasn't me. There are no prints to prove it because I wip-
Whoops.
Seriously, my office is five minutes' walk away from the site of the incident, and the gun was found right across the street from me. No biggie, though - slack bugger that I am, it was all over by the time I strolled in to work.
The cops came round canvassing for witnesses in the afternoon, and there were cop cars galore till late afternoon. From the sounds of it one of the victims knew the shooter, so I doubt he'll go far. -
Hmm, didn't realise we had another Melbourne member here. Are you in Carlton?Originally posted by siaokau:Damn scary nia.. I live right beside the CBD... -
I've got friends living in Carlton.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:Hey, it wasn't me. There are no prints to prove it because I wip-
Whoops.
Seriously, my office is five minutes' walk away from the site of the incident, and the gun was found right across the street from me. No biggie, though - slack bugger that I am, it was all over by the time I strolled in to work.
I watched a video of the news report of the gun's recovery; the close-up shots of the gun were a little blurry, but it looked like a 1911-pattern pistol. -
condolences to their families..
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trinity college?Originally posted by spinsugar:My sis sms-ed me scared stiff.. the place's just a few blocks away from her school -
Update:
I have to say.. Australian police is damn efficient to be able to identify the suspect in less than 24 hours... Plus their uniforms look damn cool lol!
June 18, 2007 07:01pm
POLICE have named the man they are hunting over the fatal shooting in central Melbourne today.
He is Christopher Wayne Hudson, 29, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said tonight.
"No further details or a photograph of the suspect are available at this stage," the spokeswoman said.
But the Nine Network tonight said Hudson was a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.
The spokeswoman urged anyone who saw him to contact police or Crimestoppers.
"Under no circumstances should anyone approach Mr Hudson," she said.
One man died and two others were seriously injured when a man opened fire at the corner of William Street and Flinders Lane, as hundreds of people headed for work in the morning peak.
A 43-year-old solicitor died at the scene, despite the efforts of paramedics to revive him.
An earlier altercation at a nightclub turned into a violent confrontation on the corner of Flinders Lane and William Street at 8.15am (AEST) today, when two good Samaritans went to the aid of a woman being dragged from a taxi by her hair.
Without warning, her attacker pulled out a handgun and, at point blank range, blasted the two men in the upper body before shooting the woman.
Paramedics tried in vain for an hour to save the life of the solicitor.
The second bystander, a man in his 30s, was tonight in a critical condition with gunshot wounds to the upper body.
Extremely brave
The actions of the solicitor who was shot dead were ones of "extreme bravery", police said.
"It really strikes at the heart of all investigators to see somebody who's going about their daily life to be killed in such a tragic way," Detective Inspector Stephen Clark said.
The Barcode nightclub on King Street was cordoned off as a crime scene and police were questioning a different man they took from there this morning.
"We're not sure exactly what his involvement is," Det-Insp Clark said.
Police were examining a handgun found at a nearby building site after the shooting, which is a similar type and calibre as the one the gunman used.
A mobile phone found on Flinders Street was also being examined.
Police are appealing for the driver of a taxi seen at the shooting.
"I don't know exactly where the taxi fits in, but there was a taxi seen in the vicinity," Det-Insp Clark said.
"There appears to have been an altercation between the male and the female at the taxi," he said.
Earlier assault
About 10 minutes before the shooting, the gunman assaulted a different woman a block away in King Street's nightclub precinct by either kicking or punching her in the face.
That woman was also being treated in hospital today and, as with the other two victims, police were yet to interview her.
"The victims at the moment are all receiving medical treatment. Once we get an opportunity to speak to them, we'll then do that," Det-Insp Clark said.
Police did not know whether the two women knew each other or whether one was the gunman's girlfriend.
Interstate authorities have been given information about the suspect, who was last seen on Flinders Lane.
"It's the No.1 investigation at the moment and we've got plenty of resources dedicated to finding this man," Det-Insp Clark said.
Video Video: Gunman on the loose | Weapon found
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Related story More information can be found at the Herald Sun website
Distraught family
The distressed family of the shot woman expressed their horror and sorrow for the other victims.
The woman's mother, who rushed to her daughter's hospital bedside, offered her sympathy to the dead man's family.
"My daughter is up there fighting for her life," she said.
"I just feel so sorry for the other family."
The family would not comment on the woman's links to the gunman. It is believed she had recently moved to Sydney and worked in tourism.
A News.com.au reader said the gun was found later at a nearby contruction site. Police were "fairly confident" it was the weapon used. A worker at the site said a coat was also found there.
Lockdown
City buildings was in virtual lockdown this morning with thousands of people being told to remain where they were while the manhunt was on.
The landmark Rialto Tower was briefly evacuated amid suspicion the gunman had fled inside, sparking a floor-by-floor search.
Rialto managing director John Apps said the search came up empty-handed and that the gunman was then rumoured to have been seen running down St Kilda Road.
The crime scene near Flinders Lane remained closed, but Flinders Street had reopened to traffic.
The gunman was described as being about 30, about 183cm tall, wearing black jeans, a denim jacket, and with short brown hair.
Some Telstra staff who work in the Rialto Building had been been offered counselling.
The nearby AXA building was also locked down and customers and staff at a nearby cafe were told to remain inside.
http://www.news.com.au/
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wah tats scary..
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Props to the Melbourne police for their prompt investigation outcome.
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Didn't figure it would take long. Shortly before the shooting, the female victim and the shooter had an altercation at a King Street bar. According to the news reports, the victim was a stripper from Spearmint Rhino who had started putting on a show for her boss at the bar. The shooter came along and grabbed her by the hair, and at that point a patron at the bar stepped in and broke it up.
It looks like the victim knew the shooter, so I expect that either she or someone who knew her fingered Hudson as the shooter. -
r u frm trinity?Originally posted by siaokau:trinity college? -
Wow look at those shotguns, I hope to own of those.