 Good morning everyone and thank you for being here. From the outset what I would like to say is that it's important to realise that this time we have a significant investigation on the way. We are examining a number of crime scenes. There are many things that we still don't know about what occurred the early hours of this morning and obviously there will be some things that we do know about that we can't discuss here because they will be subject to evidentiary matters before the court. What I can tell you is that about 1.17 this morning an armed robbery took place at the Parkwood Tavern in Napa Road at Arundel. Shortly thereafter we received a triple O call and a significant number of police units proceeded towards the armed robbery site. What we had learnt initially was that two males, one armed with machete and one armed with a firearm had committed an armed robbery at that location and had fled the scene. Police in attendance then set about tracking and setting up cordons in an endeavour to locate the offending people. These people were subsequently tracked by a police dog to a location in Napa Road. That area is an area of, it's a residential area and the particular place that we're speaking about is Situawe on Aigridge. What I can tell you is that the police dog was able to track the two offenders beside a garden shed. The dog squad handler, Sergeant Hamray, as he got to the edge of the garden shed was shot without warning and suffered a single gunshot wound to the face. He at that time was accompanied by an officer from Runaway Bay. Both Sergeant Hamray, and despite the fact that he'd been wounded, was able to regain his composure and he and the other officer both returned fire on the males that were secreted around the side of the garden shed. Both of those male persons received gunshot wounds. One was immediately detained at the scene. The second made his escape down a side yard and he was later detained by police who had set up a cordon in that street. Earlier this morning I spoke to Sergeant Hamray at the hospital. He is in good spirits, he is an extremely brave officer and he should be commended for his duty. He's a very lucky man and the events of last night simply highlight the dangers that operational police face on a daily basis. Later this morning we anticipate that he may undergo some surgical procedure to clean the wound. Both of the other men are at the hospital as well and they too will require to undergo surgical procedures as a result of the gunshot wounds they received. I might just start off with the questions at this point. Graham it sounds like there was no warning here for this officer as they walked down there? No that's certainly right when I spoke to the Sergeant and I have to be mindful of what I say here because these are matters for the court. We all allege obviously that he was shot without warning. Would you call that an ambush? No I think I don't know that was an ambush and I can't say that but what it was was a confrontation and the position that the offending people were in it was they were boxed into a corner and confronted by a police dog handler and he's doing their job. How would you describe the way that they retaliated you know there's two police there and and then they just put out any warning by that and it's pretty cowardly. Certainly you'd have to say that this is a very cowardly act and you know I think that what is most appropriate in this instance is to look at the response of the police officers their training held them in good stead so despite the fact that Sergeant Henry had been significantly injured he was able to regain his composure and do his job and then assisted even further beyond that. It was there we had set up a coordinate around the entire block so there were police right around the block and that's what led to the second person being captured as he made his escape. Can you confirm reports that at least one of the officers who responded to the scene also had responded to your government leading? Look I can't confirm that but I'm likely to believe that it was at least one officer who was at this scene who was possibly at the day he was leading that. Can you tell us whereabouts on his face he was injured? Just below his left cheek bone. How close was he when he was shot? It's difficult to say but my estimation would be I don't know exactly where the sergeant was standing but I'd probably suggest it was probably a matter of feet. The shed that they were hiding next to was that in a house yard? Is there any connection to that house? No no it is in a house yard and it's just your typical garden shed. During that initial robbery are there any um we've just heard some conflicting reports that hostages may have been taken as part of that initial robbery at the time? Look I don't really want to comment on that obviously there were staff employed at the hotel who were going through their closing procedures and they were subject to the armed robbery. So these people had completed the armed robbery and were reported as they were leading? No they had fled some distance from the scene of the armed robbery. How that came about and how they actually came to be where they were located we're not sure at this stage it's far too early for us to say. Graham can you tell us about the weapon that was fired at the officer? It was a small caliber rifle. How much time passed between when they were found and the robber? It was about an hour and three quarters I'd suggest. From the time we got the triple O call to the time we had the call of shots fired it was about three quarters an hour. I know um the you know the union was saying and you probably had this thought as well that when you heard the news of this what went through your head not again? To be honest with you my heart sank to think that here we are on police remembrance day and here's another police officer going about the course of his duties who suffered a gunshot wound at the hands of criminals. Do you have any messages to police officers at the moment? I do have a message really and I'd be proud of who you are be proud of the uniform that you're wearing and be proud of the job that you do and I think a large proportion of the thinking public largely support the work that police do. You mentioned that this officer is a very brave man in fact his bravery has been commended in the past hasn't it? Look I'm not sure about that but certainly the police officer's concern is a I'll use the word veteran he's a very experienced police officer he for many years has worked alone with his dog and that in itself requires a significant amount of courage and if you were to see the scene there this morning in complete darkness and the fact that he led the way with his dog without regard to his personal safety you'll have to say that he's a very brave officer. Are you able to share any details on his family and the dog's name? I don't know his dog's name I obviously saw the dog this morning the sergeant has a son in the job he's a police officer with Goodner I spoke to his son this morning he drove down from Goodner so he also has a brother in the job it is a police family and that really struck home this morning when you see two brothers and a son there after one officer has been shot it's a very poignant reminder of how strong our police family is. You came around and obviously you've been shot was there an exchange of gunfire between sort of the four parties I guess then back was in court? Obviously what I can tell you without going into all the detail is that the sergeant admittedly realized he had been shot he had an officer behind him it was evident to both that a shot had been fired and as for the train they undertook they returned fire to protect themselves. Were they fired on again after that? No. You said one of the suspects ran into a house and then people inside that have home as well? I understand that there were people living in that house yeah They go inside the house? No in the yard. Were there any concerns for public safety at any time? No there wasn't but you'd have to think at any time that when a weapon is discharged in that public place we would hold some concern for general safety of people thankfully it was in the early hours of the morning thankfully it was in a confined space and that I think the situational awareness of the officers at the time was able to prevent any further activity taking place. In that moment for those people that have never experienced that sort of scene give us a snapshot of what would have been going through those police officers mind like would they have been sheer terror would it be I don't know how you've just been blasters going off in front of your face give us an idea of what's going on there? It's difficult to say what went through those officers minds but you'd have to think about disbelief shop and obviously what happened in this occasion these two officers trained kicked in the gear and kicked in the gear very very quickly and I'd suggest that their response and the outcome is indicative what went through their minds but certainly what I would say to you was that personal safety was not a forefront they put the safety of the public first. Is the fact that the officer was shot in the face and yet about the return by injured the two men not fatally? No look that's the way it unfolded you have to appreciate this is this is almost pitch black the only lighting that was available was that that was about either through street lighting or otherwise when I was there earlier this morning you could not see unless you had the car lights turned on so it was very dark environment there was a lot of trees and shrubbery in the area as I was saying this is about three o'clock this morning so you can imagine what it was like. With the sergeant's injuries are you expecting him to be in hospital for some time or could he be released? It's difficult to say my information just recently is that there was further examination to be undertaken the initial assessment is that his wounds are not significant and that's an unusual thing to say but he has been a very very lucky man and it appears that the bullet has not caused any major structural damage to his face so there will be further procedures and I think there are a number of doctors who are going to look at the site this morning an assessment will be made it's probably going to be the case that he will be taken to theatre later this morning and have the wound cleansed and a further assessment of the nature of the injury will take place. So did the bullet actually penetrate or did it graze? Penetrated. Did it sharp his jaw? No it doesn't appear to this stage of any structural damage to the officer's face but the bullet still lodged no the bullet exited. So the damage is there any indication of sparing? Not at this stage we understand that he has some compression type injury within his ear drum the bullet passed very close to his ear drum I'm not a medieval person but that's my understanding of it. Do we know where the bullets hit the two robbers? What I can tell you is that both men were struck in the legs and feet. Are you expecting charges to be laid against them today? We would hope so it depends both of those men will be required to undergo surgery today they will remain under guard and they will face some very serious charges once we're able to do so. So both of the men sustained only one bullet wound injury? One suffered multiple injuries one suffered a single injury. And in terms of who the sergeant who he shot did he hit at some multiple times or just the ones? They are still matters for the investigation what you have to appreciate is the speed at which this incident occurred the location in which it occurred the time that it occurred and the fact that one of these officers has been shot it's very difficult and that's what we're trying to do now we're trying to work out we have four crime scenes that we're trying to analyse and there's a lot of material we simply just don't know and I've been quite honest with you about that. What's that? Significant, significant but not life threatening. Was there anything taken from Natavin and was that collected? A sum of cash was stolen plus some personal items of property from some of the employees. Whenever something like this happens obviously people say gun crime is out of control on the Gold Coast do you think gun crime is out of control on the Gold Coast? No certainly not it's evident that we have gun crime here there's gun crime in most places not any Queensland but within all jurisdictions so it's not out of control unfortunately we see that weapons are used in offences they're used from time to time but it's not a regular occurrence. What's been the sergeant's attitude I guess when you've seen him in the hospital I mean you know him quite well um is he sort of something all you know you've got a way with that none or is he what's his attitude? He's an amazing man absolutely amazing I can tell you that his first thoughts were that of his dog he actually got on the phone and rang back at the scene he wanted to know about the welfare of his dog because he hadn't had time to check that and I don't think that any of us had time to think about it either so his first thoughts were for the welfare of his dog and I can tell you that he said to me boss I'll give that to work as soon as I can I think it says a lot about the the man we're talking about. How many shops were exchanged there I mean you would have looked at the police officer's weapons phone now are they hit a hole? I'm not privy to that obviously we have ethical standards down here that the discharge of any weapon by any officer in the course of their duty is always subject to a fairly significant investigation so we have both a criminal investigation running parallel with an internal investigation and and those matters really should should remain with the court and for me to even try and suggest how many shots were fired would be nothing more than a guesstimate but obviously there have been multiple shots fired. Do we know about the offenders or what can you tell us about the offenders? Look I'm not in a position to discuss the offenders. Are they Highlander? Can you give us some background? Oh they're both they're both Australians we might just leave with that. You know if you talk about gun crime before is there an increase in propensity if you think for criminals to use guns in crimes on the case? No look our experience is we're seeing all types of weapons used in in offences from knives from clubs syringes bottles lumps of wood and in fact I probably suggest here we have more of that we do have firearms but I'm talking about actually firing actually firing firing firing guns in big crimes. No and look obviously we've had a number of offences where weapons have been discharged in the last in my time here but they are not a significant number of offences. We have spoken to the offenders early this morning at the casualty section at the Southport Hospital being mindful of course that they too were in need of medical assistance so that's not always easy we have to you know be mindful of the fact that we have the safety of the public at hand the medical staff have to be allowed to undertake the work that they do and and that should take place first and then when time permits we'll get in and do our job as best we can. Are the offenders knowing the police? I really can't comment on that. Are they calling pretty? I can't comment. No they're not. To aim at the legs and feet as well again that's a that's the sort of train that they would have to try not to you know kill the offenders it's a very good to have that presence of mind to be aiming there. Again I can't really make comment about what the officer how they aim what was going through their minds at the time but appreciate the context of where they were. A very dark bushland environment we've had an officer's shot so you can imagine that there would be a very difficult time for the officers in determining what they're about to do and how they're about to respond. The officer who was with the sergeant at the time is here a long time colleague of the sergeant? Has they worked together closely? The officer is an officer is a senior constable from Runaway Bay they would obviously know each other well they're a close family and he is an experienced officer as well. If there's been tears out there about some of the boys and girls I mean this is a lucky night. Yeah we escaped a very what could have been a very serious incident today and what I experienced at the scene was one of resolve amongst the police and also I think that everyone thinks about you know what this job brings with it the dangers that it brings and the fact that any day you might be confronted such a situation so there's a real awareness and these situations drive that home to us. Do you think there'll need to be special counseling for the officers involved particularly given the similarities to Damien Leading's case that in the armed hold up and officer shot chasing offenders does that bring up a whole heap of other Look as a part of any critical incident response that we put into place all officers who need counseling have provided that different officers obviously react in different ways but certainly right from the from the outset early hours this morning our human services officer has been at the hospital with Gary and at the later time there'll be some more follow-up for those officers who may or may not need that but he's fully conscious at the moment I agree I haven't spoken to him since the early hours this morning probably about 5.15 and he was very conscious and very awake then where he is at the moment I'm not too sure. Do you expect him in the other officer to be nominated for bravery awards over this? That'll certainly be a part of the consideration once all the investigation unfolds but I would probably suggest that would be the case. Is it possible to say how many police officers ultimately were at the scene this morning? I'm not in possession of those figures but I can tell you there was a significant amount of police there both uniform and plain clothes. It was strange shown by the other police obviously they realised that a colleague had been shot they've been a fairly dramatic exchange of gunfire. Do you expect they've shown some pretty amazing resolve and restraint themselves not to take it to another level? I'm not surprised by that I mean we're well trained. The officers had realised certainly that one of the offenders that was captured immediately at the scene was injured and he was restrained and similarly I think that the the second offender when he was captured a similar approach was taken I mean that's their job we don't let our human emotions take take over and I think there's a sense of relief that we actually captured them and that no one was injured no members of the public were injured and that the officer who was injured thankfully is going to come back to work and do his job again. Again I'm not a medico but the information that I have he has at least three separate wounds whether they're as a consequence of one, two or more projectile strikes I'm not in a position to say you know how long I'm up in the first offender was captured that the second one was captured a very short period of time he only went a short distance and you try to get into the house but then police you look I don't know about that part of it sorry thanks everyone now thanks for your support we really appreciate it gives me the coverage today please remember today to be great and it's a good day too because it's also the sentencing of Damien leading offenders you know we've been very fortunate here today too it could have been a very sad day. In Australian pain is that sort of a cause is there any comfort to inform colleagues that this has made a good outcome as much as the officer's not being hurt and the other there is a final closure to the other episode? Definitely each and every time that an officer is confronted with a situation like this when one of our when one of our own is injured in a significant way undertaking their duties it strokes the heart of every police officer in the state and interstate we all know the dangers this job brings and I can tell you even when we lose an officer from another state we talk about that it's a part of what we do and that's what we're here for today we're going to remember those officers who have lost their lives and of course their duty and also today is probably a course of some celebration in that we've been able to dodge could have been a very very nice thing to do.