A man has been arrested after a gun allegedly went off during a violent citizen’s arrest outside a primary school in Melbourne’s north-east.
The incident unfolded following an alleged attempted carjacking and a two-car crash near the intersection of Williamsons and Manningham roads in Doncaster about 11am.
Senior Sergeant Sean Audley said the incident began when the driver of a black ute, a 32-year-old man, rear-ended another car before he became highly “agitated”.
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Audley said the man appeared frustrated with the other driver, who is a woman believed to be in her 70s.
The man allegedly then tried to steal another driver’s car, which was stopped nearby.
That’s when four bystanders rushed to Felix Lang’s car to help.
“Lucky people came to help me. I appreciate it. I was very frightened, I still feel shaken,” Lang said.
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A scuffle allegedly occurred between the four bystanders and the man, before his gun was allegedly fired, according to Audley.
“The driver of the ute was restrained on the ground and he was reaching around in a bag and at some stage in the struggle, a firearm was discharged,” he said.
“We will allege it was in possession of the male in the black ute.
“It’s not (clear) how the discharge has taken place, but during the scuffle he has had with the civilian witnesses and some very brave indivdiauls, a firearm has been discharged.”
Justin was one of the bystanders who held the man down until police arrived.
He initially had stopped to help the man, who seemed to be bleeding following the crash.
“I pulled up, he was bleeding. I thought he was a normal guy, so I was going to help him wipe his head and get some rags from the truck for him,” he said.
“But that’s when he tried to steal the next car and take off.
“There were five of us. He was like Superman. I was more worried about the old lady and the kids near the school bus.”
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Police were quickly on the scene, arresting the 32-year-old man who was suffering from minor injuries.
He was taken to hospital under police guard.
Police seized a gun at the scene, which is believed to be a revolver.
“It’s always lucky that someone hasn’t been injured. We don’t know which angle the projectile left the gun,” Audley said.
“It is quite dangerous and there are people on the street It happened meters from the primary school.
“It could be worse but it wasn’t on this occasion.”
The second driver of the white car was also taken to hospital, suffering from some soreness.
The 32-year-old man is yet to be formally charged.
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