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Gunman Out on Parole Kills 4 in Australian City of Darwin

truthatallcost

truthatallcost

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A man who was out on parole was arrested after fatally shooting four men and wounding a woman in an hour-long downtown rampage Tuesday in the northern Australian city of Darwin, police said. It was Australia's third mass shooting since the country introduced tough gun laws in response to a 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman armed with two semi-automatic assault rifles killed 35 people in Tasmania state. Mass shootings are usually defined as those resulting in at least four deaths excluding the shooter.

In Tuesday's rampage, four men were killed and a woman was wounded at five places around Darwin, said Northern Territory Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw.

The 45-year-old suspect was released from prison on parole in January and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, Kershaw said. Police did not say why he had been in prison or whether the bracelet helped police arrest him.

"He is an individual who's well known to police and has a number of interactions adverse with the police," Kershaw said.
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No word on motive or the suspect's personal identity yet. Darwin appears to be a resort town on Australia's northern coast. I can't imagine why the shooter targeted this area.

Gunman out on parole kills 4 in Australian city of Darwin - seattlepi.com
 
Maybe he shouldn't have been allowed out on parole. Just a guess mind you!
 
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The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Ben Hoffmann, who is an outlaw motorcycle gang member, well known to police with a criminal history. He was released from prison on parole in January after serving at least a year. It is just like the Mad Max movie and outlaw motorcycle gangs are responsible for much of the nation's organised crime.



A man who allegedly opened fire in Darwin on Tuesday night, killing four men and injuring one woman, can be identified as 45-year-old Ben Hoffmann.

Mr Hoffmann was on parole and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet when he allegedly opened fire with a pump-action shotgun in the Darwin city area about 5.45pm local time (6.15pm AEST) on Tuesday.

Commissioner Kershaw said the suspected gunman was "well-known" to police and previously had a number of adverse interactions with the police force.

Commissioner Kershaw described him as having links to outlaw motorcycle gangs

Darwin shooting: Four dead, one injured and man arrested after mass shooting
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truthatallcost said:
No word on motive or the suspect's personal identity yet. Darwin appears to be a resort town on Australia's northern coast. I can't imagine why the shooter targeted this area.

Gunman out on parole kills 4 in Australian city of Darwin - seattlepi.com
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His personal identity has been released. I'm not referring to him by name, "asshole" will just have to suffice. Some of the victims were known to him, police were following lines that the dispute may have been over a woman or related to drugs. When apprehended he was allegedly displaying behaviour consistent with being under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Likely ice.

He had been released on parole with apparently 23 strict conditions. He was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet for the duration of his spree. He was stopped by police for speeding earlier in the day, about 6 hours before he went on the rampage. There will need to be some "please explains" from the NT Government Officials, that's for sure.
 
ThirdTerm said:
It is just like the Mad Max movie and outlaw motorcycle gangs are responsible for much of the nation's organised crime.
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Bike gangs are problem in the US as well. They've thousands of members across every state and they've begun "chapters" (read: gangs) in various foreign countries. I expect more than one Australian bike gang has US affiliation. They are responsible for much of the meth trafficking here and abroad. That's their source of income.
 
Serenity said:
Uh no. Living in Australia is not "just like a mad max movie."

Good grief.
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Bike gangs pretty much are. We have plenty of that variety of gang scum here. They are the main traffickers of meth and that's the territory they fight for.
 
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ecofarm said:
Bike gangs are problem in the US as well. They've thousands of members across every state and they've begun "chapters" (read: gangs) in various foreign countries. I expect more than one Australian bike gang has US affiliation. They are responsible for much of the meth trafficking here and abroad. That's their source of income.
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We actually have really tough outlaw motorcycle gang laws in Australia. Even wearing bikie club colours or gathering in public is banned. Now that doesn't mean that they are not still a problem in relation to crime activity, they are, but there are attempts being made to try and address the situation.
 
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