Talk:Port Arthur massacre (Australia)/Archive 3

Uncited material in need of citations

I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 17:35, 24 November 2021 (UTC)

Background

Perpetrator

Bryant also withdrew many thousands of dollars during this period. He used at least some of this money in late 1993 to purchase an AR-10 semi-automatic rifle through a newspaper advertisement in Tasmania.

In March 1996, Bryant had his AR-10 repaired at a gun shop and made inquiries about AR-15 rifles in other gun shops. At the time of purchase, non-handguns were not required to be registered in Tasmania.

Attacks

Morning events

Bryant awoke at 6:00 a.m., notable to his family as he was not known to do so due to a lack of commitments. Two hours later, his girlfriend left the house to visit her parents. According to the home security system, Bryant left the house at 9:47 a.m.

Bryant travelled to Forcett, arriving some time around 11:00 a.m. He continued to Port Arthur and was seen driving into Seascape down the Arthur Highway around 11:45 a.m. He stopped at the Seascape guest accommodation site(43.11888°S 147.85326°E / -43.11888; 147.85326 (Ruin of Seascape guest accommodation) that his father had wanted to purchase, owned by David and Noelene Martin. Bryant went inside and fired several shots, then gagged and stabbed David Martin. Witnesses testified to different numbers of shots fired at this time. It was stated in court that it was believed that this was the time that Bryant killed the Martins, his first two victims.

Broad Arrow Café murders

Bryant finished his meal and returned his tray to the café. He put his bag down on a table and pulled out of it a Colt AR-15 SP1 Carbine with a Colt scope and one 30-round magazine attached. It is believed the Colt magazine was partially emptied from the shootings at Seascape.

Andrew Mills was shot in the head. Tony Kistan was also shot from about two metres away, also in the head, but had managed to push his wife away prior to being shot. Sarah Kistan was apparently not seen by Bryant, as she was under the table by that time.

Gift shop murders

Bryant killed eight people after moving to the gift shop, and wounded two others.

Car park murders

During the café shooting, some staff members had been able to escape through the kitchen and alerted people outside. There were a number of coaches outside with lines of people, many of whom began to hide in the buses or in nearby buildings. Others did not understand the situation or were unsure where to go. Some people believed that the gunshots were from a historical reenactment happening, and moved towards the area.

Ashley John Law, a site employee, was moving people away from the café into the information centre when Bryant fired at him from 50–100 metres (50–110 yards) away, missing.

A coach driver, Ian McElwee, was hit by fragments of Cook's bone. Both were able to escape and survived.

[Doug] Hutchinson ran around the front of the coach, and then along the shore to the jetty and hid.

Bryant fired at Denise Cromer, who was near the penitentiary ruins. Gravel flew up in front of her as the bullets hit the ground. Bryant then got in his car and sat there for a few moments before getting out again and going back to the coaches. Some people were taking cover behind cars in the car park, but they were still visible to Bryant. When they realised Bryant had seen them, they ran into the bush. He fired several shots, all of which missed.

Neville Quin was taken away by helicopter and survived.

Bryant fired at James Balasko, a U.S. citizen, hitting a nearby car. Balasko had been attempting to film the shooter. Many people, unable to use their parked cars, hid along Jetty Road.

At this time, Bryant had killed 26 people and injured 18.

Toll booth murders and carjacking

Bryant then got back into his car and left the car park. Witnesses say he was sounding the horn and waving as he drove. Bryant drove along Jetty Road towards the toll booth where people were running away. Bryant passed by at least two people.

The driver, Graham Sutherland, was hit with glass, but quickly reversed back up the road and left to alert a nearby service station as to what was happening. Bryant then got into the BMW, leaving behind his Volvo 244, including his Daewoo shotgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

At this point, Bryant had killed 33 and injured 19.

Many people around the service station witnessed this and hid. The service station attendant told everyone to lie down and he locked the main doors. He grabbed his rifle, but by the time he could retrieve some ammunition and load his gun, Bryant had left in the BMW. A police officer arrived several minutes later and then set out in pursuit of Bryant.

Zoe Hall was the 34th victim killed.

The driver of another approaching vehicle saw this and reversed back up the road. Bryant also fired at this car, hitting it but not injuring anyone. Bryant then got back into the BMW and drove down the Seascape driveway to the house.

He is believed to have arrived at the house by about 2:00 p.m.

Capture on 29 April

Bryant taunted police to "come and get him", but the police, believing the hostage was already dead, decided that the fire would eventually bring Bryant out. Bryant eventually ran out of the house with his clothes on fire, suffering burns to his back and buttocks. He was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment.

It was also determined they had been shot, and that Noelene Martin had suffered blunt-force trauma. They both died before the fire; witness accounts of the gunfire, as presented to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, place the time of death of David and Noelene Martin as being approximately noon on 28 April. One weapon was found burnt in the house, and the other on the roof of the adjacent building where police believed they had seen Bryant the night before. Both weapons had suffered from massive chamber blast pressure, possibly from the heat of the house fire.

Aftermath and analysis

Community response

It was launched by the Prime Minister on the first anniversary of the massacre.

Mental illness and copycat effects

The two communities exchanged items to place at their respective memorials.

Community and government reaction

Media, activists, politicians and some family members of victims, notably Walter Mikac (who lost his wife and two children), spoke out in favour of the changes.

This was a matter which, in the public debate that followed, was widely regarded as a telling demonstration of the inadequacy of the nation's gun laws.

Investigation

Prosecution

In a police interview, Bryant admitted to having carjacked the BMW, but claimed it only had three occupants and denied shooting any person. He also claimed he did not take the BMW from the vicinity of the toll booth and that his hostage was taken from the BMW. He said that he thought the man he took hostage must have died in the boot when the car exploded. He did not distinguish between the car fire and the later house fire. Such discrepancies raise speculations that Bryant was either lying during the police interview or was mentally incapable of recalling events accurately. Bryant also claimed that the guns found by police were not his but admitted to owning the shotgun that was found with his passport back in his own car near the toll booth.

Initially Bryant pleaded not guilty to the 35 murders and did not provide a confession. Bryant changed his plea to guilty for a court hearing on 19 November 1996, where he was found guilty of all charges. The judge then ordered that all evidence for the case be sealed.

...in Hobart's Risdon Prison, where he remains in solitary confinement and is not permitted any visitors other than his immediate family. His prison papers indicate that he is never to be released, and he continues to serve his term without possibility of parole, a rare sentence in Australia, where the majority of murder sentences allow for the possibility of parole after a long prison term.

Daewoo shotgun?

The mention of a Daewoo shotgun being left behind after the tollbooth murders and Bryant abandoning his car seems incredibly out of place. I don't see any mention of him using a shotgun anywhere else in the article, nor have I ever heard any news reports or accounts of the massacre mentioning a shotgun. Can anyone confirm or deny this? RocketsFallOnRocketFalls (talk) 06:16, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

Looks like that section's been deleted, I guess that closes this. RocketsFallOnRocketFalls (talk) 14:39, 29 November 2021 (UTC)