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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-05-04 Daily Xml
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HECTORVILLE SHOOTING INCIDENT

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the condition of the two police officers who were the first to arrive at the scene of last week's tragic shooting at Hectorville?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:16): I want to thank the honourable member for her question. I am also aware of a very close family member of the honourable member who is a member of the police and, of course, whenever there is an incident or a tragedy like this, people like the honourable member, with family in police uniform, are obviously very concerned for their wellbeing.

Last week, in the early hours of Friday morning, police were called to a residential address in Hectorville as a result of a 000 call. The initial call was made at 2.28am and it took just 99 seconds from the task being dispatched for the first patrol to arrive at the scene. Upon arrival, two young constables were confronted by a male armed with a gun. Shots were fired, resulting in one of the officers receiving a serious gunshot wound to the face. The officer who received the gunshot wound was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious facial injuries, while the second officer received a knee injury.

I am able to advise the house that doctors are pleased with the progress of the constable who was shot. Since Friday, doctors have conducted surgery including craniofacial surgery and surgery to his arm, which was lacerated in the incident through contact with a broken glass door. I understand that, although he has been in an induced coma, he was briefly awake earlier this week and responded to nursing staff and showed an awareness that he knew where he was. While he will remain in an induced coma for the next day or so, his medication has been adjusted to reduce the depth of that induced coma.

This morning I spoke to the father of the constable who was shot, as well as to the officer who suffered a knee injury during last week's incident. It is greatly upsetting to see any officer injured in the line of duty. Incidents such as these are a reminder of the daily dangers confronting our men and women in the South Australian police force. We are extremely fortunate to have so many men and women who put their lives on the line every day in the pursuit of helping and protecting our community. Their dedication and willingness to risk their individual safety allows us all to carry on our lives confident in the blanket of security their service provides.

I want to extend, on behalf of the government, on behalf I am sure of all members of this parliament, and on behalf of the people of South Australia, our gratitude to the two police officers involved in last week's incident. I am told by the Deputy Commissioner of Police that their courage may well have averted further loss of life. I also want to extend my gratitude to our thousands of dedicated men and women officers who are on the front line day in, day out showing courage, professionalism and commitment in order to keep the people of our state safe. The state government appreciates and understands the crucially important work that you do.

Also, I want to extend my sympathies, our sympathies, to the family who lost three members during the tragic events in the early hours of Friday morning. Our thoughts are with them during this terrible time. As I said to the father of the police officer shot in the jaw, 'Please know that all of us are thinking of him and his family and that all of us are proud of his work, his bravery and the common sense he showed in saving lives of others.' When I spoke to the second officer, I said the same thing, 'All of us are proud of what you did and all of us are proud of what you do for us on a daily basis.'

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