Two students hit by stolen car in Canberra

The Canberra Times

Two children have been taken to hospital in a serious condition after being hit by a speeding car opposite St Edmund's College on Canberra Avenue.

Transcript

00:00About 7.40am this morning, New South Wales Police Force responded to reports of a stolen

00:06motor vehicle in Sutton, New South Wales.

00:09They attended a childcare centre where it's alleged a Holden station wagon was stolen

00:14from that location with an eight-year-old girl in the rear of the vehicle.

00:19Fortunately, that girl was let out of the vehicle approximately 100 metres down the

00:24road unharmed.

00:26That was last seen heading towards the ACT, so ACT Policing were alerted to reports of

00:33that vehicle.

00:34For the next hour, ACT Policing along with our New South Wales Police Force colleagues

00:39attempted to locate that vehicle and shortly after 9am this morning, the vehicle was sighted

00:44entering the ACT on Canberra Avenue, Harman.

00:48A short time later, Police and Emergency Services responded to reports of a collision on Canberra

00:55Avenue, Griffith, outside the St Edmunds College, where unfortunately a 15-year-old

01:02and a 14-year-old boy were struck by that Holden Commodore station wagon.

01:08The vehicle then struck another vehicle before coming to rest at the corner of Canberra Avenue

01:14and Ferno Street in Marnika, behind me here.

01:18The 31-year-old male attempted to flee the scene.

01:21He was apprehended a short distance away by tradespeople working in the area and ACT Policing

01:26members attended a short time after that and took the male into custody.

01:31The 15-year-old and 14-year-old boy, both students at St Edmunds College, were both

01:36taken to hospital in serious condition.

01:40The 31-year-old male driver and sole occupant of that vehicle was also taken to hospital

01:46where he remains under police guard.

01:49At this time, our thoughts go out to the boys and the families of those boys and also

01:56the whole St Edmunds community at this time.

02:00We also appeal at this time to anybody that saw the vehicle, the green Holden Commodore

02:07station wagon with Victorian number plates, anyone that saw that vehicle driving in ACT

02:12or New South Wales from 7 Porter this morning, if they could contact Crimestoppers on 1-800-333-000.

02:21I think I've got that right.

02:24What sort of injuries do the boys have?

02:26Serious injuries at this time.

02:28My update at this time is one is currently in theatre being operated on and the other

02:33one is in serious condition.

02:35And what do we know about that 31-year-old man who was taken into custody?

02:39We're currently conducting enquiries in relation to him.

02:42He's not currently a resident of the ACT.

02:44He was most recently a resident of Victoria.

02:47He has been a resident of the ACT in the past.

02:50So we're currently conducting enquiries with our state colleagues to get a recent update

02:55on the chronology of his whereabouts.

02:57Is he known to police?

02:59He is known to police, yes.

03:00At the time the boys were hit, were the police engaged in a chase?

03:05No, there was no chase involved.

03:07Police attempted to deploy stop sticks back in Harman and there was no pursuit ensuing.

03:15Police believed he may have gone into Fishwick and went through Fishwick and at that time

03:20we responded to reports of a collision in Griffith.

03:22Do you know yet if he was speeding or what speed he might have been going?

03:26There are reports of erratic driving behaviour before and after the time of the incident.

03:32And this is just such a shocking thing for so many people.

03:36What can you say to people who are sort of reeling from it today?

03:40This is a tragedy.

03:41Obviously we've got our major collision team, we've got our police detectives out conducting

03:47a thorough investigation.

03:49As I said, our thoughts and hearts go out to the boys, the family of those boys and

03:54also the wider St Edmunds community.

03:56And what about those heroic three people, what do you have to say to them?

03:59Oh look, it's amazing isn't it, that people can respond like that, to put themselves in

04:06harm's way.

04:07Obviously they could see by the state of the car that the car had been involved in a serious

04:12collision and obviously as the male attempted to flee, they apprehended him and then police

04:20arrived a short time after.

04:22Sorry, just to check details, was the little girl in the car, was she known to this 31

04:28year old?

04:29No, no.

04:30So it was just a random car?

04:31It was an opportunity, we believe at this time it was an opportunistic theft of that

04:34vehicle.

04:35And she escaped unharmed physically?

04:37She was let out of the vehicle unharmed, yes.

04:39But I mean it's just such a scary thing for a young child to go through, like how is she

04:44doing?

04:45Oh certainly, our New South Wales Police Force colleagues are dealing with that part of the

04:49incident.

04:50There were reports in New South Wales that this car had hit a number of other cars before

04:53it entered the ACT, what can you say about that?

04:55We're conducting inquiries at the moment, we do know there was a serious collision with

04:59another car closest to St Edmunds College up there that's caused a lot of the injuries,

05:03a lot of the, sorry, a lot of the damage to the car that you'll see behind me there.

05:10Our investigation is solely and wholly on events that have happened in the ACT.

05:14And that collision was before the kids were around?

05:18That's part of the investigation at the moment, I believe it happened after colliding with

05:23the two children.

05:24And have police been in contact with the boys' families?

05:28Police are currently up at the hospital with the families of the boys, yes.

05:31And that man who was under police guard in hospital, was he taken to Maggots and Tissot

05:34or was he also injured?

05:36He suffered injuries as a result of the collisions, obviously with the boys and other vehicles

05:42involved.

05:43What kind of injuries were they?

05:45I don't have an update on his condition at this time.

05:48Do you have any idea what's prompted this whole chain of events?

05:51No, that'll be part of our, form part of our ongoing inquiries in relation to this.

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