Two brothers shot by police near Barnawartha North campground
The names of the brothers involved in a dramatic campground shooting near the Victoria-NSW border have been revealed, along with their family link to a massive siege which brought an Australian capital city to a standstill in 2014.
The two brothers shot by police while on counter-terror authorities’ radar are the sons of a man who died in a police siege.
Joshua Clavell, 30, and Joel Clavell, 19, were shot in a dramatic confrontation at an isolated Murray River camping ground near the Victorian-NSW border on Wednesday.
Their father Rodney took his own life during a massive siege in Adelaide CBD in 2014.
Four women had been held hostage during the drama.
An inquest last year found Rodney Clavell took his own life while under the influence of amphetamines.
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The brothers are two of 11 siblings Rodney fathered before he died five years ago.
Originally from South Australia, the duo had taken up residence on the banks of the Murray River rather than being on holiday, police said during a press conference this morning.
Kevin Richardson, who leases the land the brothers were staying on, said the pair had been camped at the reserve for almost five weeks.
They reportedly drove a small yellow car and were camped in a small white tent.
“They would go up to the servo. There’s showers up there. You would see them drive up and head up to the servo. And that’s where things started there yesterday,” he said.
“The young bloke didn’t want to talk at all and the other fella said they’ll probably stay til next week and then he just asked if they are my cattle.”
Mr Richardson said he saw the brothers just hours before they were shot.
“I saw them yesterday morning, I was down here looking at my cattle and I didn’t go near them, but I saw their yellow vehicle there and it wasn’t until my neighbour rang me and said police came in.”
“And then next, she said she was outside and heard yelling and shots fired.”
He said there were only two other people camped at the reserve at the time.
Both brothers remain in hospital, with younger brother Joel under police guard in a serious condition at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
Joshua is at the Albury Base hospital with serious injuries and is in a stable condition.
Police and SES are continuing to process the scene and are waiting on a specialist team to arrive from Melbourne.
ELDER BROTHER CONVERTED SIBLINGS TO ISLAM
Police say Joshua Clavell, 30, was radicalised to fundamental Islam a number of years ago and had been working on getting his brothers to join him.
The older brother had indoctrinated two of his three brothers and had been watched by counter-terrorism police for two years before yesterday’s violent clash.
“Both these persons of interest are what we could call Muslim reverts,” Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther said.
“He was on a list. We were seeking to understand whether he was a risk to the community.
“I understand the older one has a history of a pretty strong hatred of the police.”
The 30-year-old brother was shot by police first after he lunged at the officers.
Police believe he converted to radical Islam a few years ago and travelled to Bangladesh to marry in recent years.
He was in a NSW jail last year before being released and moving across the border.
“I’m guessing that there was an opportunity for these individuals to be off the grid,” Mr Guenther said.
“Perhaps they felt they were under too much spotlight.”
HOW SHOOTING DRAMA UNFOLDED
A major investigation was under way after the pair was seriously injured by gunfire after a vehicle stop in which the armed brothers rammed an unmarked police car.
It is believed the violence had exploded when officers performed what has been described as a “precautionary” check on the suspects.
The men then rammed the police car and got out of their vehicle with weapons — a knife and a tomahawk.
Police last night said one of the armed brothers was shot as he lunged at an officer with a weapon, and the other was wounded after he refused to surrender.
The Herald Sun yesterday revealed the brothers had outlaw motorcycle gang links, which police today confirmed were historical.
Local police and the counter-terrorism units worked together and their efforts were praised.
“The efforts of all of those involved is very brave,” Mr Guenther said.
“Our people get very affected by the trauma of these things.”
The pair had taken up “some kind of temporary residence” on the banks of the Murray River.
“They were not on holiday there,” Mr Guenther said.
Victoria Police said there was no ongoing threat to the community.
The men were shot at the isolated Richardsons Bend Campground, in Barnawartha North about 3pm.
It sparked a massive emergency response, with police and ambulance officers rushing to the scene by road and helicopter. Paramedics worked on the injured men before they were taken to hospital.
Police were not seeking anyone else over the incident.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Clive Rust said investigators from Counter Terrorism Command “unexpectedly” saw the brothers in a service station and tried to intercept them, but they drove off.
He said the CT officers then asked for help from local uniformed members, resulting in the confrontation at Richardsons Bend.
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“The two males rammed the police vehicle and then alighted from their own vehicle and confronted the police,” Mr Rust said. “The two males were armed with edged weapons.
“One man lunged at the officers and was shot.
“There was a standoff between the officers and the second male for a number of minutes as the police attempted to negotiate with the man.
“Police tried to control this person by the use of nonlethal force. They utilised OC foam and a taser and then this male person lunged at police, and he was subsequently shot also.”
Mr Rust said there were indications the men were camping at Richardsons Bend.
He said CT officers wanted to speak to the men to “assess whether or not they were any risk to community safety”.
“We’re treating this as a violent attack on police members, not as a terrorism incident,” Mr Rust said.
“They were residents of NSW and had recently moved into Victoria and that’s the reason why our investigators were attempting to contact them to ascertain what the actual level of their involvement was in regard to counter-terrorism.”
One of the alleged offenders was shot in the abdomen and a leg.
The officers, from the Wodonga command area, would receive support from the force and the Police Association, Mr Rust said.
June Chilvers, who lives nearby, saw at least four police cars speed by her property in the aftermath.
“I saw them fly along, four cars,” she said. “I saw them fly past.”
John Malcolm, who lives about 2km from the campground, had been at Richardsons Bend just minutes before the shooting and saw nothing to indicate the trouble that followed.
There was barely anyone staying at the camping spot in the cold and wet conditions.
“I saw one bloke, who I reckon lives down there, has a tent down there,” Mr Malcolm said. “There’s a lot of free camping, free parking,” he said
The circumstances are expected to be the subject of an internal investigation, but Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt backed the officers’ actions.
“As a community, we are all in debt to our police members every time they go out and put our safety ahead of their own,” Mr Gatt said.
Makeshift shelters were set up at the scene where detectives were expected to work well into the night.
BROTHERS’ BURNING ‘HATRED’ FOR POLICE
Counter Terrorism Command Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther told 3AW that of one the brothers was a person of interest.
“It was our intention to go and meet with that person with some of our interstate partners and look at whether we could test their level of radicalisation and any intent to commit an act of violence,” he said.
Mr Guenther said the pair has a “very strong hatred of police” that came from “their criminal history as evidenced over a long period of time”.
“There’s enough information out there that’s indicated there is a criminal history that extends across South Australia, [Victoria], and New South Wales.”
“It’s reasonable to say that both those individuals were what we call reverts, or converts, to Islam, and their beliefs were very fundamental, very rigid.
“Obviously when we do get situations like that that’s exactly why my security intelligence unit explores that information because we want to test that and see if there’s a risk to the community.”
DAN ANDREWS COMMENDS BRAVERY OF OFFICERS
Premier Daniel Andrews said the government had advice that there was no ongoing threat to the community.
“I want to thank the brave Victoria Police officers who put themselves in harm’s way every single day to keep Victorians safe,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews revealed that the two brothers had a “history of violence”.
He was this morning briefed by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton on the shooting, which left the men in critical but stable conditions.
Mr Andrews said he was aware but would not publicly details how authorities discovered the men were in the Barnawartha area, or why they came to the attention of police.
“Sometimes warrants are outstanding, sometimes people are electronically monitored so their phones might be off, they might be being surveilled for all sorts of different reasons,” he said, speaking in “abstract terms”.
“There are lots of different reasons why people might be of interest (to police).
“They were low-level persons of interest from a counter-terrorism point of view but they have a history of conduct that is a very serious one.
“They were of interest to police on a number of different fronts.”
The brothers have “been all over the country”, and “spent time” in South Australia, Queensland and NSW.
“It reminds all of us that our members of Victoria Police put themselves in harm’s way everyday to keep the community safe,” Mr Andrews said.
“I thank them for their service, for the professionalism that they show everyday, even in the most challenging of circumstances, and this certainly was a particularly nasty incident.”
BULLETS FLY IN CAMPGROUND CONFRONTATION
The isolated Richardsons Bend camping ground is a most unlikely venue for bullets to fly in a showdown between terror suspects and police.
Nestled under gum trees by the Murray River, it is a favoured holiday spot for locals and the odd visitor from outside the Barnawartha North area.
On Wednesday, wet and cold, there was even less to indicate the events about to unfold.
A local, John Malcolm, who lives about 2km away, was at Richardsons Bend just minutes before the shooting.
But at about 3pm, all hell broke loose.
A vehicle containing two men drove into the reserve, closely followed by at least one police unit.
Anyone not knowing the area would probably be unaware they were heading for a dead-end — their escape route terminated by the Murray.
But the Herald Sun has been told weapons were brandished by the cornered suspects at the campground.
An unknown number of shots was fired by the police in reply, sparking a huge emergency response.
Suddenly, Richardsons Bend was a major crime scene.
It was not the kind of thing locals had ever expected would be played out on their patch.
“A lot of idiots go down there with the four-wheel-drives and tear the place up, but not shootings, not terror,” Mr Malcolm said.
Another nearby resident, Tony, was stunned by the events and revelations of potential terror links.
“I’ll make sure I’ve got my guns polished up for next time,” Tony said.
“They didn’t know the area obviously. They’ve gone down there and they couldn’t get out.
“It’s a real trap there. Right on the bloody water, right there on the river.”
— Additional reporting by Monique Hore
Originally published as Two brothers shot by police near Barnawartha North campground
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