Charges laid over Australia’s only unsolved cop shooting

Police have made a potential breakthrough in Australia’s only unsolved shooting of an officer more than two decades after the incident.

Police have made a potential breakthrough in Australia’s only unsolved shooting of a police officer more than two decades ago, with a man charged with attempted murder.

Police have charged the 49-year-old Brisbane man over the alleged shooting of Senior Constable Neil Scutts during a bank robbery in Browns Plains in 1999.

The charges come just weeks after a $500,000 reward was offered to anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest of the person involved in the shooting.

Senior Constable Neil Scutts stands outside the bank at Browns Plains where he was allegedly shot by a robber during a bank heist in 1999.

The man has been charged with 13 offences including two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery with actual violence while armed, one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and seven counts of deprivation of liberty.

He was due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Police allege the 49-year-old was one of two men who forced entry into a National Australia Bank before holding staff and customers at gunpoint on March 24, 1999.

Constable Scutts was one of two police officers who attended the scene and was shot in the groin, just missing major arteries by millimetres.

His service firearm, a Sturm Ruger .357 six-shot revolver, was allegedly stolen and has not been recovered.

The investigation at the scene of the alleged armed bank robbery. Picture: Supplied

The offenders fled on foot, taking two staff members as hostages before stealing a vehicle at gunpoint, police allege.

They were wearing off-white plastic masks and surgical style gloves, and were seen to be carrying two-way radios.

The investigation into the robbery continues with the $500,000 offer remaining on the table for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest.

The stolen police firearm, a Sturm Ruger .357 six-shot revolver, is yet to be recovered. Picture: Supplied

Detective Inspector Tod Reid said the arrest was potentially a major breakthrough in the case.

“The dedicated investigative team have worked tirelessly on this case and while there is still a lot of work to do, the arrest is certainly a major milestone in the investigative process,” he said.

“I would like to acknowledge the assistance from the public we have received on this matter to date and would encourage anyone with information who is yet to speak with police to come forward.”