Shed Stand-Off

A 46-year-old man has been charged after a stand-off with police in north Queensland. Police declared an emergency situation after the man allegedly barricaded himself in a shed armed with a gun about midnight (AEST) in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt. Police allege he voluntarily came out about 9 am today and was taken to hospital for a minor injury sustained inside the shed. The man was charged with serious obstruction, unlicensed possession of a weapon, dangerous conduct with a weapon and possession of a weapon under the influence of liquor. He will appear in Townsville Magistrates Court tomorrow.

What is it with these standoffs and sieges? A man can stay inside his house for a month and no-one even notices, but as soon as he actually refuses to come out, its a siege situation and the house, or shed in this case, is surrounded by a hundred bored SWAT guys playing 'pin the hollowpoint on the perp'. What a sight it must have been to see a small backyard shed surrounded. Well, allegedly surrounded, perhaps. After all, the man only allegedly barricaded himself in the shed, but definitely with a gun. He may or may not have come out about 9 am, but was definitely taken to hospital. Could be a bit of a problem if it turns out he was still inside the shed when they took him to the hospital… but it would explain the 'minor' injury - accidentally melding atoms with the shed to produce a sort of man/shed hybrid would have to hurt a little bit. That would explain why he was charged with [being a] serious obstruction, unlicensed possession of a weapon (the government refuses all applications from buildings of any sort to own a gun), and dangerous conduct (he opened his door into the face of a police officer, perhaps?) But come on, the charge of possessing a weapon under the influence of liquor is just plain ridiculous - what will become of Australia's hunter-heroes and weekend warriors if they can't partake of both hobbies simultaneously!? What sort of weekend will it be when all those legend-in-their-own-mind gun-toting maniacs with big inferiority complexes and small… er… cars are no longer allowed to, in the words of Weird Al Yankovic, “get all liquored up and shoot at anything that moves”?

Man Charged After Stand-Off