Sydney Shopping Centre Massacre
A man involved in a shootout with police near a suburban Sydney shopping centre was planning a US-style massacre and not a bank robbery as first thought.
The unnamed 22-year-old was carrying three spare magazines for his fully-loaded Glock pistol — a total of 40 bullets — when he was intercepted by police on Monday.
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A source close to investigators says the man intended to carry out a random shooting spree in Eastwood Shopping Centre, but they have not established a motivation for the planned attack.
Police were unable to interview the man, who did not regain consciousness before dying on Wednesday, but have confirmed he lived two blocks away from the mall with his parents.
They have also revealed he was a licensed pistol shooter with no criminal record who held a permit to own the restricted handgun.
Local shopkeepers from the mall say they were lucky not to get caught in the cross fire as police traded gun shots with the man at a laneway near the centre about 1.30pm.
A group of police out to lunch first noticed the man acting suspiciously and followed him into a laneway off Progress Avenue, Eastwood, when he started shooting at them.
Police returned fire before the man shot himself.
He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.
Local greengrocer Michael told ninemsn he was standing just three metres from his fruit shop's laneway roller shutter as bullets blasted through the door.
"It sounded like someone was hammering on the door, but then we saw at least two bullet holes," he said.
"There was around seven of us (near the door) when the bullets came through the roller shutter.
"We were really lucky that no one was hit.
"Then I saw the guy being wheeled out on a stretcher, and he looked in a really bad way."
A nearby restaurant owner says she heard at least five or six shots before the ambulance arrived.
ninemsn.com.au
