Western Australian gunman shoots are car full of people before stealing vehicle and turning gun on himself

A gunman shot at a car full of passengers and then hijacked another vehicle before chasing a female driver and turning the gun on himself in a wild shootout.

The man shot at five people in a black Mitsubishi Triton ute on the Albany Highway in North Bannister, Western Australia, at 5.20pm on Saturday.

The wild shooting ended almost seven hours later, just after midnight, when he turned the gun on himself and his body was found in a stolen car.

The Triton, with a driver and four passengers on board, stopped to help the occupants of a red Holden Commodore that appeared to have crashed.

One person got out of the car and ran toward the Commodore, but a gun was pointed at them by a man who emerged from roadside bushes with a woman.

“The woman ran in front of the Triton business and the man pointed the firearm at the occupants in the vehicle,” WA Police said.

“As the driver of the Triton utility attempted to drive away, the male fired a round into the passenger side window, with the firearm projectiles passing through the front cab and exiting through the driver side window.”

As the Triton drove back to pick up the occupant who originally got out to help, the gunman fired a second time at the vehicle, hitting it again.

“As the Triton pipe re-entered the area, the male offender fired a second round into the rear of the pipe.

“None of the occupants of the car were injured,” the spokeswoman said.

Police said the occupants of the red Commodore stopped another vehicle, a gold Volvo BZ station wagon, which was also stopped along the road.

Once again the Volvo occupants had a gun pointed at them and this time the occupants got out and surrendered their car.

“The perpetrators fled in the stolen Volvo station wagon,” police said.

The stolen car was involved in another motorway drama at 10.30pm, when police received reports from a man that ‘a man followed a woman driving in Merredin and pointed a firearm at her’.

The gold Volvo was spotted by police at a nearby gas station around 11 p.m. When the driver saw the police, he fled ‘at high speed’.

Police followed the car from a distance and sent an emergency text message alerting the 2,400 residents of the Merredin community ‘advising them to stay indoors and secure their premises’.

45 minutes later, a 24-year-old woman got out of the car in the stolen Volvo and was arrested.

Police followed the car from a distance and sent an emergency text message alerting the 2,400 residents of the Merredin community ‘advising them to stay indoors and secure their premises’ (stock image)

Just before the unrest ended, a shocked passenger in yet another vehicle claiming to have been cut off by an “out of control car” saw the driver put a “gun” in its mouth.

“As we leave Merredin and we almost get rammed by an out of control car they stop and cut us off with no where to go,” the woman posted on social media.

‘The police stop and shout at them to get out of the car and lie on the ground, and the old friend in the driver’s seat puts a gun in his mouth. Literally three feet away from us.”

WA Police confirmed in a statement to Daily Mail Australia that a stolen Volvo station wagon – which the gunman had hijacked near Bannister – “came to a stop on the Great Eastern Highway in Merredin at 12.05pm”.

“Police approached the vehicle and found the male driver unconscious with an apparent self-inflicted injury to his head,” a police spokeswoman said.

“They were unable to revive the man, who has not been formally identified.”

Officers from the WA Police Major Crime Division will investigate the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

Officers are urging anyone who may have seen the stolen gold Volvo BZ station wagon between 6:00 PM on Saturday, October 21, and 12:30 PM on Sunday, October 22, 2023, or who has a dashcam view of the stolen gold Volvo BZ station wagon, to get in touch contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.