A man has been arrested after shots were fired inside Canberra Airport, which has been evacuated and flights stuck on the tarmac.
ACT Policing report they were called to Canberra Airport about 1.30pm today, following reports of gunshots in the main terminal building.
“Shortly after, one person was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered,” ACT Policing said in a media statement.
“CCTV has been reviewed and, at this time, the person in custody is believed to be the only person responsible for this incident,” the statement continued. Â
“The Canberra Airport terminal was evacuated as a precaution and the situation at the Airport is contained.”
No injuries have been reported, however witnesses said as many as four gunshots were fired near the check-in counters.
Images on social media show bullet holes in window panels of the terminal.
Passengers on planes have been stuck on the tarmac due to the incident, with flights unable to take off or land at the airport.
Parts of the facility were also sent into lockdown due to the incident.
Police are conducting a search of the airport, with the terminal remaining closed to passengers.
Videos shared online have shown police interviewing evacuated passengers outside the terminal.
Canberra Daily spoke with an eyewitness at the scene, Hayden Keast, around 15 minutes after the incident happened.
Mr Keast said he arrived at the airport around 1.20pm and was sitting at Gate 6 waiting for a flight when “a sea of hundreds of people came running towards us, shouting ‘run for your lives’. ‘Get out.’
“So I just ran down the escalator, there were people tripping, people with small children, all of us just running out of the airport. There were people hiding under seats.
“I’m very shaken up,” he said.
“We’ve been herded into the back carpark.”
Mr Keast said the word amongst the rattled crowd was there was a gunman and the airport was in lockdown.
“People are just everywhere. Police are everywhere and there’s an ambulance in attendance.”
While speaking to Canberra Daily, a Canberra Airport staff member confirmed to Mr Keast and nearby evacuees that it “was a shooting and they caught the guy. Police are sweeping the whole area,” he said. “Apparently four shots fired.
“You were running for your life,” Mr Keast said. “It was really chilling. You just knew something really bad had happened.
“My carry-on is still at Gate 6. We just dropped everything and ran.
“It was just terrifying,” he said.
“I’m in shock.”
- – By Julie Samaras, with Andrew Brown, AAP
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