Queensland police have arrested a 78-year-old man in connection with a 1994 armed robbery and shooting at Melbourne's Chadstone Shopping Centre. The suspect, Garry Sullivan from Southport, was taken into custody after searches of two Gold Coast addresses by the Gold Coast Major Organised Crime Squad.
The alleged incident occurred on a Monday morning in May 1994, when two Armaguard security officers were collecting money from the shopping centre's cinema. A man wearing a balaclava and carrying a handgun and cardboard box allegedly ordered the guards to get down before shooting them and escaping with bags of cash.
The injured officers were a 61-year-old from North Melbourne and a 54-year-old from Sandringham. One officer was shot in the lower leg, with the bullet ricocheting and hitting the other officer's shoe. A 40-year-old bystander from Doveton who followed the alleged robber was also shot in the leg.
Victoria Police reopened the cold case earlier this month following new intelligence and fresh forensic testing of crime scene evidence. Sullivan has been charged with armed robbery, intentionally causing serious injury, reckless conduct endangering life, and carrying a gun without a certificate.
He appeared in Southport Magistrates Court and is expected to be released into Victoria Police custody tomorrow.
