A man who allegedly wrestled a gun from a police officer and opened fire while under guard at a hospital in Canberra has been charged with attempted murder.

James William Shearer, 26, of Chisholm, appeared in ACT magistrates court on Thursday following Wednesday’s incident, which sent the hospital’s emergency department into a temporary lockdown.



Shearer is accused of assaulting police about 4pm on Wednesday, taking one of their weapons and firing it as he tried to escape. He was restrained by police, and no one was injured during the incident.

ACT Policing says Shearer has now been charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, discharging a firearm endangering life and attempting to escape from custody or arrest.

He has also been charged with culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, attempted robbery, driving a car without consent and unlicensed driving.



Shearer’s lawyer, Paul Edmonds, said Shearer pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charges, but did not enter pleas to any of the other charges.



The 26-year-old was being held at Canberra hospital after being arrested over a serious traffic incident on Wednesday morning.



Witnesses told Channel Nine they heard shouts of “Code Black” as the hospital was put into lockdown.

“My wife couldn’t get in to see her little boy for about an hour and a half,” said Dane O’Connell, who was in the emergency department with his young son. “I couldn’t do anything really ... police were everywhere.

“My phone was flat, so I couldn’t even call my wife to [tell her] what was going on.”

Police have launched a critical incident investigation but say a preliminary assessment has found no misconduct by the officers involved.

“We will obviously look into all our procedures but it’s too early to speculate,” acting superintendent Marcus Boorman told reporters outside the hospital on Wednesday night.

Canberra hospital said the emergency department was still operational, with minor damage to just one area.



“This has been cordoned off while further assessment of the damage is undertaken and repair work commences later today,” it said in a statement.

The hospital encouraged anyone with non-life threatening injuries or illnesses to consider alternative treatment options such as GPs and Walk-in health centres.

The case will return to court on 10 August.