Reports of passenger with firearm turned out to be a performer on his way into the city

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Melbourne’s Flagstaff train station was evacuated on Thursday morning after Victoria police responded to a false alarm of a gunman, which may have been sparked by an Aboriginal busker with a didgeridoo in a bag.

All trains were diverted from Flagstaff due to a police request at 8.30am, and witnesses said they saw heavily armed police at the station.

Commuters were subsequently facing train service delays of up to 30 minutes, Metro Trains said.

Metro Trains (@metrotrains) ⚠️ALL LINES: Delays up to 30 minutes after an earlier issue in the City Loop caused delays. Our Train Controllers are working to restore the timetable. See https://t.co/fE9E9Hyp10

Insp Jacob Bugeja told reporters in Melbourne officers had spoken to the man, who had been seen “acting suspiciously”.

“It was a busker. He was actually doing breathing exercises preparing for his act. It was a sports duffel bag,” Bugeja said.

“There is no ongoing risk … From our perspective, it’s business as usual.”

Aboriginal didgeridoo player Will Austin said he was approached by police at Flagstaff.

“When you get swarmed by police at flagstaff station after reports of a gunman, looking suspicious on a mission and carrying a Yidaki and a bag full of artefacts. I’m not carrying no rifle or ammunition fellas. But seriously though, stay safe all you mob out there travelling through the city this morning!” he said on Facebook.

Austin later cast doubt on whether he was responsible for the hold up.

“People have got the narrative mixed up. I was stopped by the police, due to looking suspicious and carrying something that may have looked like a gun case. However I was not the one that caused the initial hold up. People have taken my post out of context, which is now out of my control,” he told the Guardian.

Police have declined to confirm the nature of the musical instrument and have refused media requests to confirm who they were targetting.

“As there was no offence detected, we will not be providing further commentary on the incident,” a police spokeswoman said.

Bugeja said police were able to get access to CCTV footage and find the man within 20 minutes of the incident reports.

Bugeja said it was important people contact Crimestoppers or ring their local police stations if they see suspicious activity.

By 9am, police had given the area the all-clear. The police commissioner, Graham Ashton, said the original report to police said a rifle case had been spotted on the train.

“We had a report concerned that there might be someone with a firearm on a train this morning heading into the city loop,” he told radio station 3AW. “Therefore we stopped the train at Flagstaff and [ordered] critical response team members to search the train.

“After that [we] were content that there was no firearm on the train … Fortunately there was nothing to be found.”

Before police gave the all-clear, numerous witnesses told radio and TV news that train drivers had made announcements that there was a man with a firearm at the station.

Ashton said he was worried that these announcements could have caused panic.

“We have to follow that up and be very careful about those communications,” he said.

At 9.30am, Victoria police said there was “no ongoing threat” to the community.

“Police will continue to investigate the incident, however at this time there is no ongoing threat to the community,” Victoria police said. “Police will remain in the area today to speak with any members of the public who may have concerns.”

Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) LATEST 9.30AM: Police responded to reports a man was allegedly carrying a firearm bag on a train at Flagstaff this morning.



Police evacuated the train and Flagstaff Station about 8.30am.



The area was searched and has now been cleared by police. pic.twitter.com/XcHLJYqx07

Construction worker Shannon Marrell was on the platform when police told him to evacuate.

“I saw a whole heap of police barge down there with a Swat team in tow,” he told Guardian Australia. “They rushed us off the platform.”

Commuter Julian Archer said a train driver announced that there was someone with a firearm at Flagstaff station.

“All city loop trains suspended. Stay safe everyone this morning,” he said on Twitter.