A triple-zero call on March 8 triggered a major police response, sending Brisbane’s Boondall Wetlands into lockdown with police scouring the area for a reported gunman, who ended up being a well-prepared pedestrian wielding an umbrella.
Witness Ben Sartor saw it all unfold “I was having a leisurely ride along Kedron Brook towards Nudgee Beach, close to the airport, which is pretty heavily used by cyclists and runners,” he said.
“All of a sudden, I look up and there are two cops on the bike path, looking around and looking in the bushes. I thought something’s going on.
“A couple of hundred metres down the path, police cars had pulled over near the highway [Gateway Motorway], and another 100 metres on, there were six cops escorting this man towards their cars.
“I kept riding past, then I turned around, came back and the police must have let him [the man] go because he was past where the police cars were and walking away.
“Nothing like a few uniformed detectives to make your Sunday more interesting.”
Police confirmed to the SMH that they had attended a triple-zero call made by a cyclist reporting an armed man on the bike path. Officers conducted a 45 minute long search but it ended uneventfully, with officers concluding that the man seen was a pedestrian holding a harmless umbrella.
