As youngsters when we visited Brisbane, we used to visit the town hall and catch a lift to the viewing platform to admire the sights of Brisbane. Until 1967 the tower was the tallest structure in Brisvagas and a must do tourist attraction.

I never thought after I joined the police in 1959, I would ever return to the tower.  The beauty of policing you never knew what each day may bring.

Fast forward to the late 60s when a young male person armed himself with a rifle of unknown calibre and caught the lift in the BCC clock tower and proceeded to the lookout at the top. 

The lift driver was a friend of mine as we caught the same Camp Hill bus to work most mornings.

On arriving at the entrance to the clock tower the elderly lift driver could not
give us much more information to the Police Emergency Squad, such as motives and demands. Although he could tell us that the gunman was the only person there.

Why would anyone want to arm himself with a rifle in the clock tower, perhaps he wanted to become a sniper, we put an end to that by clearing King George Square. Perhaps he had dislike of the city hall pigeons and he wanted some target practice. Who knows?

Half a dozen squad members armed themselves with trusty Remington 12G 870 shotguns and vests and made the long journey via the stairwell to the top of the tower, as catching the lift was not an option. Although we did receive instructions how to drive it if needed.

Once we got there we contacted the gunman to ascertain what his plans were, explained who we were and perhaps negotiate a safe compromise.

We found out that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and contemplated suicide by going out in a blaze glory as a lesson to his girlfriend. A very strange individual indeed, after further conversations he decided perhaps his options were very unattractive and he handed over his .22cal rifle to us.

He was escorted to hospital for psychiatric assessment, and I cannot remember whether any charges were laid against him.

One thing about this job you never know what situation you may face throughout the day. In the end this problem was easily resolved. If there were more sinister motives how would have, we handled the situation?