Darwin shooting: NT Police charge Ben Hoffmann with murder, release details of victims
Northern Territory Police have made a shock revelation about the lead-up to the Darwin shooting rampage, as they charged Ben Hoffmann with four counts of murder.
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Northern Territory Police have revealed more about what happened before the Darwin shooting rampage, as they charged Ben Hoffmann with four counts of murder.
More charges are expected to be laid.
It comes as police revealed that Hoffmann was stopped for speeding just hours before four men were shot dead.
NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said Ben Hoffmann was stopped on Tuesday morning, and told officers he was test driving his silver Proton.
Mr Kershaw said a review of the body camera footage from the officer who stopped Hoffman showed he was not acting aggressively at the time.
It has also emerged that the ammunition and hunting knife used by the alleged shooter were purchased by a second person on the day of the rampage.
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Mr Kershaw would not reveal the location of where the bullets were purchased but said another person was involved.
“It was a third party who purchased it,” he said.
Mr Kershaw said police had spoken to the other person who was “assisting police with their inquiries”.
He said it was not clear yet as to whether the person would be named an accomplice.
Mr Kershaw told reporters that Hoffmann had received surgery at the Royal Darwin Hospital for knife wounds and had been cleared as “fit for custody”.
He has been transferred to Darwin watch house and is expected to be charged later today with four charges of murder for the alleged shooting of Darwin cabbie Hassan Baydoun, 57-year-old Michael Sisois, New Zealand security guard Rob Courtney, and 76-year-old Nigel Hellings during a 28-minute rampage.
Corrections Minister Natasha Fyles told the same media conference that she would be releasing the Parole Board’s report an the parole order “that the alleged offender was subject to”.
“Whilst we believe this is a tragic isolated incident, we are also currently auditing all 103 people currently on parole in the Northern Territory,” she said.
VICTIM’S BROTHER: AUTHORITIES HAVE FAILED
The development came as the brother of slain Darwin man Michael Sisois lashed out at authorities for allowing Hoffmann out on parole.
Vincent Sisois confirmed to the NT News today that his brother, Michael Sisois, 57, had been shot dead in the carpark of the Buff Club on the Stuart Highway on Tuesday night.
Mr Sisois told Sky News and the NT News that Hoffmann was known to be dangerous and should have been behind bars.
An infuriated Mr Sisois said: “They knew it, they knew something would happen and they let him out. Why?”
“It’s their fault. They’ve not done their job properly.”
Staff at Darwin’s Mindil Beach Casino Resort confirmed that Rob Courtney, who was tragically killed during the rampage, was a “valued” employee of theirs.
In a statement, Mindil Beach Casino Resort general manager Mark Bennett said it was with “much sadness” that he could confirm one of the victims was their worker.
“It is with much sadness that we can confirm Robert Courtney was a valued member of our security team and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends at this difficult time,” he said.
Earlier, it emerged that Hoffmann took just 28 minutes to carry out his shooting rampage across the city’s inner suburbs.
Now, the woman who first called Triple-0 has told of what she saw and heard as the horrific massacre first unfolded.
Jasmine Kielly and her partner Brendon Ozanne only moved to Darwin last week, choosing the Palms Motel to stay at until they found their own place.
Ms Kielly told ABC News that the first she knew something was awry was when she heard some “loud banging”.
“Silly me went out the front to check,” she said.
“As I’ve gone down towards the stairs, I saw a man in a high-vis shirt walk out with a rifle.
“He’s turned to look at me and I’ve run to the bedroom and locked the door and we hid in the bathroom and we called the police and just heard shot after shot after shot.”
Ms Kielly says she and Mr Ozanne were huddled in the shower for about 40 minutes.
“We heard him walk up the stairs at one point and I kind of just thought that was it,” Ms Kielly said.
“He had a pretty good shot if he wanted to hit me and he didn’t even aim the gun at me; he was there for a reason.”
She said she believed the gunman was staying at the Palms Motel but he had been kicked out by the owners.
Witnesses and NT Police say the gunman was looking for a man named “Alex” when the shooting began.
Police today said “Alex” was safe and had been residing in Darwin.
His latest alleged act of violence, while wearing an electronic monitoring device, took place over an hour in areas around Darwin.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has asked for a report from the Parole Board on Hoffmann and another review of all people currently on parole and on electronic monitoring.
NT Commissioner for Corrections Scott McNairn said his department had recommended Hoffmann get parole.
“We take reasoned decisions in terms of how we balance risk and those individuals are thoroughly risk assessed before we make any decision,” he told said.
Hoffman had previously breached parole by breaking curfew, for which he was given a 14-day custodial sentence in late April.
VICTIMS’ DETAILS RELEASED
The deadly violence started at 5.39pm on Tuesday at the Palms Motel where he allegedly shot and killed taxi driver Hassan Baydoun who was on a meal break.
“The guy was looking for someone called ‘Alex’ and he just got the wrong people,” said Mr Baydoun’s cousin Abdallah Salman.
Mr Salman said Mr Baydoun, 33, did not know the shooter and was accidentally caught up in the massacre.
The NT News reported that Baydoun, from Lebanon, had recently bought his first home and was looking forward to his parents visiting him in his adopted city of Darwin in the coming months.
A 22-year-old woman at the Palms Motel was shot in the legs and is in hospital in a stable condition.
Over the next hour, the shooter then went on to kill casino security guard Rob Courtney at a home in Jolly Street, Woolner, Nigel Hellings in Gardens Hill Crescent and Michael Sisois in the car park of the Buff Club in Stuart Park.
Police said they were unsure whether any of the victims knew Hoffman.
The NT News reports police are understood to be investigating a line of inquiry that a known drug dealer previously lived in the same unit complex as Mr Hellings.
Mr Hellings, who lived in Unit 1 of a complex at Gardens Hill Crescent, was closest to the road.
Neighbours in the leafy inner-city suburb described Mr Hellings as a kind-hearted man who kept largely to himself and was often seen gardening or collecting mail in his underwear.
He tried to enter the Peter McAulay Centre police headquarters, kicking the door, and then phoned a duty superintendent, Lee Morgan, who negotiated with him and alerted police to his location in what NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw called it a “magnificent job”.
Territory Response Group officers were filmed tasering and wrestling Hoffmann at a busy Darwin intersection.
QUESTIONS RAISED OVER PAROLE
The violence has raised questions about why the alleged shooter could go on such a violent rampage for an hour while wearing an electronic tag.
Mr Kershaw said ankle bracelets were not police tactical tools.
NT Commissioner for Corrections Scott McNairn said his department had recommended Hoffmann get parole and he had asked the Parole Board chair to provide a report on him.
“I’m saddened that it has happened,” he told reporters.
“We take reasoned decisions in terms of how we balance risk and those individuals are thoroughly risk assessed before we make any decision.”
Police had the serial number of a prohibited pump-action 12-gauge shotgun used in the shootings that might have been stolen, Mr Kershaw said.
Hoffman is also from a respected local family involved in business.
His brother Clint, who recently won major innovation awards for his DriveAbout app, which helps indigenous people pass driving licence theory tests, said the family was “shocked and distressed”.
“I wish to express my, and my family’s deepest condolences to all of those affected by those events including the families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives, the injured woman and those who came into harm’s way,” Clint Hoffman said.
“We are as shocked and distressed about these events as the community around us.”
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