By Catherine Naylor and Sally Rawsthorne
A police officer drew his gun and fired on a car in Sydney’s inner west overnight after the driver of the vehicle sped directly at him and his colleagues.
The incident took place in an underground car park of an apartment complex at St Peters, where police were responding to reports of a break and enter after the front foyer window was smashed.
They said three officers attended the Princes Highway apartment block about 1.15am and entered the underground car park, where they confronted two men.
“Those two men entered a white VW Golf and attempted to flee the scene. Police called on them to stop. However, that vehicle sped directly at police officers,” Inner West Police Area Command boss Detective Acting Superintendent Ben Kennis told reporters on Sunday morning.
One of the officers drew his weapon and fired a single shot at the vehicle but it did not stop.
Police could not confirm if the bullet had struck the car or its occupants. There were no reports of injuries to nearby hospitals.
The same car was later involved in a separate pursuit in Rozelle which was quickly terminated, Kennis said. The Golf was found alight in an underground car park on Harris Street in Pyrmont about 45 minutes later.
Kennis said to draw and fire a weapon, a police officer “needs to fear for their life”.
“That will form part of the investigation. The officer will be spoken to and those details will come out.”
The constable is doing “quite well” after the confronting incident, he said.
The St Peters apartment block where the shot was fired.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“They haven’t slept much. However, hopefully with some sleep and some exercise they will be feeling much better.”
Detectives have since established that the car’s number plates were stolen, and are currently investigating whether the car itself was.
Kennis said police are also looking at organised crime as a line of enquiry because of the stolen number plates and the car being set on fire.
Investigators are also working to establish if the duo gained entry to the unit complex.
“At this stage, it appears that nothing was stolen from that unit block,” said Kennis.
“Detectives are currently on scene reviewing the CCTV … They will collate all the body-worn video and review that this morning.”
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