Extra police flown in as negotiations stall

from page 3 of The Examiner, April 29, 1996


[by Ellen Whinnett]

  Police from around Australia began arriving at Port Arthur last night as the gunman still held three hostages in a guest house.
  As well, Tasmania police boosted their numbers on the Tasman Peninsula to 300 as negotiators prepared to wait the gunman out.
  Supt Barry Bennett said that extra police were being flown into Hobart las tnight and this morning from Victoria, NSW and the Australian Federal force.
  Supt Bunnett said that the gunman had stopped negotiating with police about 9:30pm after asking for a helicopter. Shots were heard at the guest house about 11:30pm and Supt Bennett confirmed that police were being shot at.
  An unknown number of special operations group olice, heavily armed and dressed in camouflage had surrounded the building last night.
  Supt Bennett made a direct call to the gunman through the media: "We're prepared to wait it out. Talk to our negotiators and come out peacefully - we don't want any more bloodshed."
  A team of trauma councillors was taken into the Port Arthur site last night.
  Supt Bennett said that while seasoned police had been sent to the crime scene they were horrified by what they had seen. He had confirmed that number of children were among the dead.

[images: "Moving In: Members of the police special operations group prepare to move into the area where the gunman was still holding the hostages in a guesthouse late last night." (19x12)
"Roadblock: Police on duty a few kilometres from Port Arthur... people appealed to the gunman through the media." (19x9) ]


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