Armed Teen Is Stopped From Boarding a Flight in Australia, the Police Say
Australia|Armed Teen Is Stopped From Boarding a Flight in Australia, Police Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/world/australia/australia-plane-shotgun-boy.html
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Passengers and crew held down the 17 year old, who had a shotgun and also claimed to have bombs, until the police arrived, the authorities said.
A teenager who boarded a commercial flight in Australia armed with a shotgun and ammunition was overpowered by passengers and crew, the police said on Friday.
The teenager, a 17-year-old boy whose identity was not released, had entered the aircraft with the firearm, the department said. Officers from the Victoria Police were called to Avalon Airport in southeastern Australia at about 2:20 p.m. local time on Thursday, it said. He was arrested and faced multiple charges.
A sheep shearer, Barry Clark, was among those onboard the flight who stepped in to detain the teenager. Mr. Clark said that he was headed to Sydney to watch a football match when he noticed a member of the crew asking the teenager, who was dressed in a high-visibility vest and was wearing a tool belt, for his credentials before entering the plane.
“He got agitated and before we know it there was a gun, a shotgun appeared,” Mr. Clark told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“I then proceeded to do what I had to do and just put him in a bit of a lock, got his hand and twisted it and put it up in his back, threw him to the floor and then put my knee in his back and held him in a position where he couldn’t get out,” Mr. Clark told Network 10, a television network, according to The Associated Press.
Police said that they found two bags and a vehicle belonging to the teenager and called in the bomb response unit to assist with the bags as a precaution. No one was injured, they said.