Police reveal suspected hoax call behind reported ‘active shooter’ in Darwin CBD

Police say investigations into a reported ‘active shooter’ incident in central Darwin that sent Parliament House into a temporary lockdown earlier this month are ongoing.

Police respond to reports of an ‘active shooter’ in the Darwin CBD on March 14. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Police have confirmed they are investigating a reported “active shooter” in central Darwin that sent Parliament House into a temporary lockdown earlier this month as a suspected hoax.

A heavy police presence descended on the central business district on March 14 as office workers went into a mild panic amid reports of an armed gunman roaming the streets.

In a statement at the time, police said officers had “received a report regarding an active shooter in the Darwin CBD” but later confirmed it had been a false alarm.

“Police can confirm that there is no active shooter. There is a large police presence in the city however, there is no threat to public safety,” the statement read.

In response to questions from the NT News on Monday an NT Police spokeswoman said investigators now believed the incident to have been a “hoax”.

“On the morning of 14 March 2024, the Northern Territory Police responded to a report of an active shooter in the Darwin CBD,” she said.

“After thorough investigation, it has been determined that the incident appears to be a hoax.

“However, inquiries are still ongoing.”

She said the investigation remained open and no one had been arrested or charged with making the false report.

Officers patrol outside Parliament House after it went into a temporary lockdown earlier this month. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The incident brought with it a sense of unwelcome deja vu for CBD residents who had been around long enough to remember Ben Hoffmann’s bloodthirsty rampage through the city in 2019.

Hoffmann is now serving life without parole for the murders of Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois and Rob Courtney as well as the manslaughter of Nigel Hellings after gunning them down with a shotgun during the methamphetamine-fuelled frenzy.

The killing spree began at the Palms Motel on McMinn St on the afternoon of June 4, where Hoffmann shot Damita Jerome who survived the encounter thanks to the quick thinking of her boyfriend Cameron Ehling.

Still at the Palms, Hoffmann then shot and killed Mr Baydoun before setting his sights on Mr Sisois outside the Buff Club and gunning down Mr Hellings at his Gardens Hill Crescent home.

Finally, Hoffmann murdered Mr Courtney at a recycling yard in Woolner before he was eventually arrested back on McMinn Street where the rampage began.

In sentencing Hoffmann in 2022, Supreme Court Justice John Burns described his victims as “entirely innocent” and “effectively defenceless”.

“Your conduct was brazen with you committing these offences openly and in the vicinity of witnesses. You deliberately used a lethal weapon because your intention was to kill.

“You committed these offences after using methamphetamine, a substance you knew had the effect of making you prone to commit violent crimes.

“Your level of culpability is so extreme that you should be required to suffer the maximum penalty available for the offences of murder.”

Originally published as Police reveal suspected hoax call behind reported ‘active shooter’ in Darwin CBD