At least five people have been killed and others are injured after a Darwin man allegedly went on a shooting rampage across the city tonight.
Dramatic arrest if possible shooter in Darwin CBD pic.twitter.com/0fis1UQHW9
— Stephanie Zillman (@Steph_Zillman) June 4, 2019
Parts of Darwin were thrown into lockdown before 6pm tonight as police scoured the city to find the alleged gunman, believed to be armed with a sawn-off shotgun.
NT Police Duty Superintendent Lee Morgan confirmed to news.com.au at least five people were dead and two more had gunshot wounds.
Mr Morgan said police were unable to confirm if more people had been killed.
“We’re still working through a number of crime scenes so we still don’t know if there are others,” he said.
Police were first called to the inner city suburb of Woolner just before 6pm local time to multiple reports of shots fired.
Witnesses at the Palms Motel on McMinn St reported up to 20 shots fired, telling horrifying stories of the man allegedly calmly walking through the motel “looking for somebody”.
“He shot up all the rooms and he went to every room looking for somebody and he shot them all up, then we saw him rush out, jump into his Toyota pick-up, and rush off,” witness John Rose told the ABC.
The alleged shooter, described by police as a 45-year-old Caucasian man wearing high-vis workwear, then reportedly fled the first scene in his ute before driving to the suburb of Stuart Park and allegedly firing his gun again.
Officers said the 45-year-old was on the move throughout the city as he allegedly fled police, armed with a pump-action shotgun.
It’s understood The Palm Motel is the main crime scene police are working through. Officers have also cordoned the Buff Club in Stuart Park.
Mr Morgan said police believe the shooter acted alone. He was driving a white Toyota Hilux ute and was described as 195cm tall.
Heavily-armed and camouflaged police arrested the shirtless man at about 6.45pm tonight, tackling him at a city roundabout.
NT Police are still urging people to stay inside and said it was an active police operation.
Witness Leah Potter told the ABC she helped an injured woman after the alleged shooter fired his shotgun through a motel room door.
Ms Potter told the publication she heard something that sounded like fireworks near the Palms Motel in Darwin before seeing the woman carried outside.
Her legs were bleeding and peppered with shotgun pellets.
A man, believed to be the injured woman’s boyfriend, dropped her on the road to go and get help from police.
“A man came running with a woman in his arms from next door which is the Palms Motel, which is the motel next to my motel, and he just dropped her on the footpath right in front of us,” Ms Potter said.
“I ran and got some towels and wrapped up her legs, she had little holes all in her skin on both her legs and she was bleeding everywhere.”
Large sections of the city were closed down earlier tonight as police worked to find the man.
Police armed with assault rifles and wearing camouflage gear cordoned off roundabouts and roads in Woolner.
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