Shock as gunman opens fire near an Adelaide playground – but all is not what it seems
Residents in a quiet Adelaide suburb got the fright of their lives on Monday after they saw a man wearing a hi-vis vest shoot a high-powered pistol into the air.
Local man Jeff watched in horror as the gunman walked to a car and pulled out a “large gun about three feet long.”
He then fired near Wattle Reserve in South Brighton at around 6.30pm, but it appears the man had been legally hired by local authorities to shoot pigeons.
Jeff said that before he got the gun, the man had paid a lot of attention to a particular house, which was next to a playground.
“I was minding my own business and I noticed him walking back and forth, up and down a driveway, pacing the street.
“After about an hour, he went back to his car that was parked across the street from his house, pulled out a gun and fired a few shots.”
Jeff then saw the man pick up a dead bird he had just shot, causing him to panic.
“I’m in a park in Brighton and I don’t expect anyone to pull out a gun without any signage or any warning about what’s going to happen,” he said.
Residents in Adelaide’s west got the shock of their lives when they saw a man with a gun and in hi-vis pull out a large handgun on their street (pictured)
Jeff called the police and was surprised at their response.
“They told me there was a pigeon cull nearby,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the local Holdfast Bay Council said the shooting was not carried out or approved by the council.
“It is a requirement for pest control companies undertaking such activities to seek permission (or) notification from local police,” the spokeswoman told police. Advertiser.
SA Police said they had been notified of a pigeon cull in the area.
An Adelaide pigeon controller, John, said such culls are called out more often than people realize and he works on the problem every day.
‘If you saw what I saw, they have to go. The feces, the mess, the noise they create.
The man pulled out the big gun near Wattle Reserve in Brighton, where there is a playground (pictured)
‘There are people who praise my work after I have lived with them for a few years. The mess they make, the gutters, the damage runs into the tens of thousands.’
He said the clearers are trying to operate covertly so as not to scare people.
‘You can place signage, but that sometimes attracts more attention than if you did not place more signage.
“So if I want to be very clear in front of a house, I’ll usually approach them and let them know what’s going on,” John said.