Siege in Nerang finished after two wanted criminals were in a standoff with Gold Coast police
Children were still waiting to leave their primary school when police descended to plunge the area into total lockdown - it was the beginning of a 20 hour standoff. SEE WHAT HAPPENED >>
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STUDENTS were still waiting to leave their Nerang primary school when police descended on the quiet street opposite their bus lanes and plunged the area into total lockdown.
Their parents would be forced to trek through a nearby dog park and scrubland behind the grounds of St Brigid’s Primary School to collect them late Wednesday night, school staff revealed to the Bulletin.
Through the night residents trapped in their homes would hear officers trying to negotiate with the two men who had holed themselves up inside a suburban home.
Some, forced to sleep in their cars even as temperatures dropped as low as 4 degrees, would not be able to return home until almost 20 hours later.
Nerang woman Jazzlyn Abbey revealed her desperate wait to bring medication to her elderly mother, who had slept at a friend’s house overnight.
“(The situation) is obviously not ideal,” Ms Abbey said.
“My mum needs her medication and it’s all here so she has no access to them.
“She couldn’t sleep because she was so worried.”
Residents came out of their homes on surrounding streets early Thursday morning to offer coffee, hot food and blankets to those who had suffered a cold night.
One who declined to be named told the Bulletin she had been bringing her children home from a late night sports game when her husband called and said the road had been shut down.
“He said police have blocked it, you’ll need to go the back way,” she said.
“My daughter heard siege and Nerang and was really scared because of everything that happened in Texas recently. She’s 10, she doesn’t understand.
“I said we don’t have guns here, it’s not like that.”
Others reported simply ducking to the shops to grab snacks before the start of last night’s Origin game, only to return and find a police barricade in place.
Schoolchildren, toddlers and their grandparents on the way to daycare, and people out walking their dogs were among those forced to turn back as the siege continued into Thursday.
Frustrated motorists were ordered to drive on by police manning the area.
But within 15 minutes of police announcing the men had been arrested a steady flow of traffic had resumed and little sign of the lengthy chaos.
JUN 9: SEIGE LOCKDOWN LIFTED
Relieved residents are making their way home after police lifted a blockade in which two wanted men were holed up for almost 20 hours.
Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance vehicles have left the scene of the tense standoff in Nerang, which began just before 3pm on Wednesday.
Neighbours, including small children, came out into their yards to watch.
Two Gold Coast men have been arrested and taken to Southport Watchhouse.
Residents have also left the street after hours trapped inside their homes as police negotiated with the two men overnight.
They thanked officers through car windows as they passed the last police cars blocking the entrance.
Some people were forced to sleep in vehicles in near-freezing temperatures, while many more were stuck inside while the standoff dragged on.
A Nerang resident said her mother was “worried sick” after she was blocked out of her home and thought she would have to sleep in her car.
“Any update as to when the exclusion zone is lifted would be amazing because my mum, brother and sister are all stuck sleeping in their cars,” Jazzlyn Abbey asked the Nerang Community Group on Wednesday night.
“Just wishing them to be safe and at home.”
The temperature in Nerang was 4C at 7am on Thursday.
Ms Abbey told the Bulletin her mum stayed at a friend’s house, but could barely sleep.
“My mum needed her medication and it’s all here so she had no access to them,” she said.
“She couldn’t sleep because she was so worried.”
Ms Abbey said her mother was relieved when she heard the exclusion zone had been lifted.
“She is much better since she is home and we are just glad we are safe,” she said.
The Facebook post received hundreds of comments, including from members of the Nerang community offering hot tea or a place to stay.
“It’s cold out there, if you’re unfortunately not able to get home and you’re sleeping in your car and need some warmth please message me,” Jessica Stoddart commented.
“I also have nappies and baby/child essentials if needed.
“I am happy to cook you a warm meal and have spare bedding for the night.
“Might be weird coming from a random, but just trying to help.”
Ms Stoddart told the Bulletin a couple came to her house to grab a pillow and blanket, but decided to sleep in their car.
“I feel so terrible for those who couldn’t get home, especially those with young children,” she said.
“Having a five-month-old baby myself, I can only imagine how scary it would be.
“I didn’t end up taking anyone in but I did have a lovely couple who came and grabbed a warm blanket and pillow for the night.
“They were just over it and wanted to get back home.”
Students were still leaving St Brigid’s Primary School when police descended on the quiet street opposite their bus stop on Wednesday afternoon.
Staff at the school told the Bulletin about 20 students were still in after-school care when officers shut down the area and ordered the private school campus into lockdown.
They said parents were forced to travel through the dog park almost half a kilometre away and into scrubland behind the school to retrieve their children.
Teachers were later escorted in their cars away from the school.
Staff and a dozen students were already back at the school by the time police lifted blockades and announced the area was safe.
‘Really scared’: Residents locked down in marathon siege
Earlier: Residents have offered coffee, hot meals and blankets to people stuck in their vehicles near a blockade in Nerang as a tense standoff between Gold Coast police and two men drags on.
Vehicles including school buses have been lining up on roads leading away from the exclusion zone.
A nearby school remains closed on Thursday morning as the siege continues more than 15 hours after it began on a quiet suburban street on Wednesday afternoon.
Schoolchildren, toddlers on their way to daycare and joggers have been among those forced to turn back.
Police officers manning the McLaren St blockade have been heard ordering cars to drive on as the drivers of the vehicles slow in an effort to get a glimpse of the action.
At the other end of the street traffic piled up as cars on the school run and commuting workers returned to the nearby major intersection.
Residents are curious, nervous and frustrated. Many have been swearing out of car windows as they pass.
The men – including one who has cut off a GPS tracker – have been holed up inside a residence on Rimu Place, according to Detective Acting Superintendent Chris Ahearn.
It’s “yet to be determined” whether the men are connected to recent shootings on the Gold Coast.
The men are wanted on return to prison warrants, but the senior office did not elaborate.
Gold Coast police have declared an emergency declaration under the PSPA Act due to an ongoing incident at Nerang.
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) June 8, 2022
The exclusion zone encompasses Riverpark Drive, McLaren Road, Kopwhai Place and Inverness Street. Residents are urged to stay indoors. https://t.co/RR81GL6YZ1pic.twitter.com/XxXlDA6UGK
Det Act Supt Ahearn said at a press conference on Thursday morning police were “acutely aware” of the impact of the siege on the community, but it needed to end safely.
Children walking to school have been turning around to go home when they spot the police barricade.
St Brigid’s Primary School, located just inside the cordoned off area, posted to social media earlier on Thursday morning warning parents the school was closed until further notice.
A childcare centre and Nerang State High School are also located nearby.
Businesses listed in the exclusion zone include Switchtek, Coats n Tails grooming and Web Design Direct.
A resident near the cordoned off stretch in Nerang, who asked not to be named, said she was coming home when her husband called.
“He said police have blocked it, you’ll need to go the back way,” she said.
“My daughter heard siege and was really scared because of everything that happened in Texas recently. She’s 10, she doesn’t understand.
“Apparently people could hear the megaphones last night with the negotiations going on.”
A Nerang resident who lives near the site said they could hear Queensland Police officers speaking through the megaphone.
“We are only a few houses away,” she said on social media.
“Two armed men have barricaded themselves inside a home.
“There were two elderly people let out a few hours ago who went straight to ambulances.
“It’s not clear if they were in the same house or next door.
“I can hear the police megaphone again so it sounds like they are still trying to negotiate with them.”
Police would not confirm whether the two men had barricaded themselves in the home, or if two elderly people had been released.
A police spokesman said on Thursday morning they had not received an update from the negotiators on scene since late on Wednesday night.
An exclusion zone encompassing Riverpark Drive, McLaren Rd, Kopwhai Place and Inverness St was still in place at 8am.
Police advised the public to avoid the area and those within the exclusion zone have been urged to remain indoors until further notice.
Residents who were stuck in the exclusion zone had to sleep in their cars overnight, it is understood.
The temperature in Nerang was 4C at 7am on Thursday morning.
A police spokeswoman told the Bulletin at 9.15pm that cordons remained in place as did an emergency declaration to protect the public: “Everything is ongoing. The investigators aren’t giving us too much information”.
The Bulletin understands the standoff began while officers were attempting to serve two return to prison warrants for a pair of wanted men on Rimu Place, just off McLaren Rd.
Multiple police and Queensland Ambulance units are at a staging ground nearby.
A resident, called Robyn, said she was unable to return home to care for her mother as a result of the police blockade on her street.
“They won’t let me past just to get home,” Robyn said.
“Police should really have something set up for when something like this happens.
“I live with my elderly mother, I can’t get to her, and I’ve got nowhere else to go. I just have to wait it out.
“I’m just praying these guys give up soon.”
Blockades had been set up to turn away traffic as more cops arrived at the scene from 9pm, as well as several ambulance crews.
Residents say it’s the most action the sleepy suburb has seen in some time.
“It’s usually pretty quiet around here,” one resident told the Bulletin.
“You definitely don’t get this kind of thing happening every night.”
The incident began after 3pm and put the nearby St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School into lockdown.
McLaren Rd is one of the busiest arterial roads in the Gold Coast’s west.
Gold Coast police declared an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) due to the ongoing incident at Nerang.
A source revealed to the Bulletin the incident could be connected to the drive-by shooting attack on the Arundel Police Beat early Monday morning, but police did not confirm.
Two days earlier, on Saturday, a 55-year-old father suffered minor injuries when his family’s car was shot at Coolangatta, seemingly at random.
Police were investigating whether the incident was connected to the Arundel shooting.
‘Bloody crazy’: Neighbours shaken by shock drive-by shooting
Police are investigating possible links between recent violent car robberies in the north of the Gold Coast and a drive-by shooting at the Arundel Police Beat.
It comes as residents living near the police beat have spoken out about the “brazen” drive-by shooting about 3.45am on Monday.
The Bulletin has been told the offenders involved in the Arundel shooting were wearing balaclavas and possibly later returned to the scene.
Several sources suggest these were serious criminals sending an explicit message to police of “catch us if you can” as they continue their crime spree.
A source told the Bulletin: “It appears that the suspects in the Arundel case covered their faces with balaclavas.”
“Two shots were fired at the station. Police are looking at whether they revisited the scene after the shooting,” they said.
In a response to the Bulletin’s questions, the QPS said “there is no update to the investigation at this stage”.
Reporters were referred to a media conference on Monday.
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The QPS indicated it would attempt to obtain more information for a response on the status of CCTV footage around the police beat.
Police sources, MPs and a criminologist are calling for a task force to investigate the Arundel attack and rampant car theft, and to review security around police beats.
“It’s an escalation of crime that’s gone from car theft, then taunting the police via social media with emojis covering their face with cars stolen doing burnouts,” a police source told the Bulletin.
“It’s escalated to the theft of violence with firearms. Now it’s reached drive-by shooting of a police establishments. Is a task force going to be put on full time to bring this under control?”
The Bulletin is seeking responses and an update from the Queensland Police Service.
Before the Arundel shooting about 3.45am on Monday, police had appealed for help on an earlier armed robbery at nearby Quayside Drive in Helensvale.
Two women entering a car about 6am last Friday were approached by a man with a gun. The man pointed the firearm at one of the women, demanding the keys.
He was wearing a grey hoodie and tracksuit pants, black gloves and shoes, and a cap.
The driver fled in a stolen 2020 Audi Q2 station wagon, with registration plates 318BB2.
He was accompanied by a white Toyota Camry bearing false registration plates 948XFN.
Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy, a former Coast Detective, told the Bulletin: “The Arundel shooting isn’t some clown wanting to take a couple of pot shots. I think it is someone who has wanted to target the police beat.
“It’s definitely not juveniles. It’s the sort of behaviour we see in the western suburbs of Sydney where they shot up Mount Druitt police station.”
“We have a drive-through shooting of a police establishment. It is unacceptable. The response should be overwhelming in terms of police resources.”
Dr Goldsworthy said Queensland was still the stolen car capital of Australia, accounting for 27 per cent of stolen vehicles nationally in 2020-21, the highest in the country.
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In the last 12-month period the stolen vehicle rate in Queensland has increased 23 per cent.
The Arundel-Parkwood community on social media has reached out to the officer in charge of the Arundel Police Beat and his partner, also a police officer, offering their support and best wishes.
A resident on Bonney MP Sam O’Connor’s Facebook page wrote: “What the hell? Terrorism. Get those scums and lock them up for good.”
Mr O’Connor told the Bulletin a review should be conducted into the security arrangements at police beats.
“It’s a concern. The officer there is doing his best for the community. He is often the first one at anything (an accident or incident) which occurs in the area,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Everyone in the area knows the policeman. It’s a really powerful model of policing, that’s grassroots.
“There’s always an opportunity to review measures to make sure it is as safe as possible.
“It is a concern. The officer is doing his best to serve the community. It’s a really powerful mode of policing. It’s grassroots, and he’s always the first one at anything in our area.
“This is an opportunity to review measures to make sure it is as safe as possible. Every officer knows the risk they are putting themselves into.”
‘YOU’D HAVE TO BE BLOODY CRAZY’
Chanel Billeau wouldn’t have thought twice about a harmless thud on her roof before yesterday.
But in the wake of a shooting at the Arundel Police Beat, the slightest sound now sets her off and leaves her “frightened”.
The 19-year-old lives directly behind the police operation on Christina Ryan way, and the only thing separating her from the shooting site is a two-metre high sheet metal fence.
“The scariest thing was I didn’t even hear it. I was fast asleep but my Dad was woken by the shots,” she said.
“My German shepherd was barking and dad said he heard two big bangs and he later told me someone had shot up the police beat.”
Ms Billeau said “nothing really happens like this on the Gold Coast” and called the incident “brazen”.
“You’d have to be bloody crazy to do something like that,” she said.
“Last night I heard a bang on the roof and it’s left me frightened.”
Ms Billeau said the area was otherwise safe and she felt bad for the officer that was there at the time.
“I just don’t know why they targeted them,” she said.
Billeau’s neighbour, who told the Bulletin he wished to remain anonymous, said as an experienced shooter and hunter, he instantly knew they were gunshots.
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“I was already awake and knew straight away it was a firearm,” he said.
“What’s interesting is when you have someone using a gun for the first time, they will pop off two shots very quickly because the adrenaline is so high.
“This was very deliberate and there was a one and a half second pause between shots. It wasn’t a semiautomatic used … sounded more like a .22.”
The man said he believed it was an experienced criminal who had used a firearm before.
“He would have deliberately taken aim before firing,” he told the Bulletin.
“I turned all my lights off and walked the perimeter of the yard to investigate. Nobody had their lights on and everything was dark.”
The man says the gunshots went off at “exactly 3.40am” and he wasn’t concerned after the shooting.
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“It’s a main road (Napper Rd), so it was too easy for them,” he said.
“What’s really disturbing and has f***** me off is the courts. They are too lenient. These grubs should be locked up for longer sentences.”
SCREAMS AFTER SHOTS FIRED
A neighbour who declined to be named said she packed up her life in Sydney with her husband and two children – 3 and 8 – three weeks ago and moved to Arundel.
Her youngest child screamed after the shots were fired.
She said she was “anxious and afraid” to walk to the shops.
“What’s crazy is I just said to my neighbours on Sunday it feels like a really safe area and I’m really happy.”
James Bastock moved to Arundel six months ago.
He was unaware of the Monday shooting until told by the Bulletin.
“You’d think it would be safe given I pay $700 a week rent. Mind you there’s a lot of s**t going on in the world right now.”
‘Beggars belief’: Shots fired into residential police beat
Police have called on the public to help after multiple shots were fired into a Gold Coast police beat located in a quiet residential area in the early hours of Monday morning.
The shooting has been labelled as a “statement” and a “challenge” to Gold Coast police by a prominent criminologist and former cop.
At least two shots were fired from a light-coloured sedan into the Arundel Police Beat on Napper Rd about 3.45am.
The shots hit a glass door and a police vehicle parked outside the property.
Officers established a crime scene after the firearm was discharged and investigations were ongoing late on Monday morning.
In a subsequent police press conference, southeastern region regional crime co-ordinator Detective Acting Superintendent Chris Ahearn said it was fortunate no one was injured.
“An officer was inside and heard a noise, and came out a short time afterwards to discover the damage,” he said.
A projectile was found lodged in the door of the property, while another lodged in a police car parked outside, Det Act Supt Ahearn confirmed.
He said it was “too early to say” if the attack was random.
Police were “currently on scene”, he said, including forensic and ballistic experts.
Ballistic experts were attempting to identify the firearm or type of firearm used.
Det Act Supt Ahearn called on any “early morning commuters or exercisers who might have dashcam or CCTV” relating to the incident to contact police.
It is not clear how many people were involved, and police are “very interested” in identifying the vehicle used in the shooting.
Det Act Supt Ahearn said the incident was “extremely concerning”,
“You don’t expect that to happen at your workplace and they (police involved in the case) are certainly very concerned, as are all officers who have seen this sort of thing happen,” he said.
“At least two rounds were fired in this residential area at this police beat.
“It beggars belief that it happened.”
Police believe there is “no ongoing threat” to the community.
Bond University criminologist and former police officer Terry Goldsworthy said the shooting seemed to be a “statement” rather than a random act.
“I just don’t think you’ve got people randomly shooting at police establishments for a thrill,” he told the Bulletin.
“Usually, they’re sending a message of where they think the police are in terms of controlling the public. That they’re not intimidated by the police being able to catch them.”
Dr Goldsworthy said the incident represented “a challenge to the policing authorities”.
“It’s almost as if to say, ‘This is what we think we can get away with’,” he said.
It will be up to the police response to prove perpetrators cannot get away with such “brazen acts”, Dr Goldsworthy said.
“I’d like to see what kind of resources they’re putting into the investigation, and into ensuring this is prosecuted to the full extent,” he said.
“You simply can’t have members of the public driving around shooting at police establishments, because then you very quickly lose public faith.”
Know more about the shooting? Phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Gold Coast police probe terrifying armed robbery
June 3: Police have released footage of a horrific armed robbery in the Gold Coast’s north early Friday morning.
They say two women were entering a car in Helensvale’s Quayside Drive around 6am when they were approached by a man with a gun.
The man pointed the firearm at one of the women, demanding the key’s from the other woman.
He picked the keys up off the ground and fled the scene in the stolen 2020 Audi Q2 station wagon, with registration plates 318 BB2.
He was accompanied by a white Toyota Camry bearing false registration plates 948 XFN.
The man was wearing a grey hoodie and tracksuit pants, black gloves and shoes, and a cap.
Police are appealing for anyone who may have dashcam or security footage or have witnessed the incident to come forward with information.
– Brianna Morris-Grant
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