Moonyoonooka police lockdown: Five people arrested after 32yo gunshot victim taken to hospital

Five people have been arrested after a man was shot and an area south-east of Geraldton locked down, with police confirming there is no ongoing threat to the community.

WA Police said the five were taken into custody on Hart Street in Utakarra about 10.30am and were assisting with inquiries.

The arrests came after the public was told to stay away from the rural locality of Moonyoonooka on the outskirts of Geraldton in the Mid West following the shooting of a 32-year-old man in the leg about 1am on Wednesday.

Acting Supt Ben Huggett said the firearm allegedly used in the shooting, which occurred “in a relatively remote area in the back of Moonyoonooka”, was unknown and had not been found.

“It’s obviously early days in the investigation,” he said. “The firearm is still outstanding.

“There’s a number of investigative actions that are required but the firearm is still outstanding.

“It’s too early to confirm the type of firearm.”

Mr Huggett said some of the five people arrested had since been released from custody, but would not provide specific details.

Police believe the five people were travelling together in one vehicle, but do not believe all five were involved in the shooting.

“At this stage, we believe there’s at least three people involved in the incident,” Mr Huggett said.

The victim is being treated at Geraldton Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and has been “cooperating with investigators”.

“So we’ve got a number of investigative actions, including completing searches of an address where the suspects were taken into custody,” Acting Supt Huggett said.

“So from there, we’ll be developing further investigative action plans and executing those.”

Mr Huggett said the people involved were known to each other, although their exact relationship could not be disclosed.

He said the alleged offenders had fled before police and ambulance officers arrived.

“While five people are now in custody, investigators are continuing to establish the full circumstances of what occurred,” he said.

“We appreciate the assistance and patience shown by members of the community.

“Any incident involving a firearm is serious and we treat it with extreme caution and is taken seriously by WA Police.”

Police hope to locate the firearm at the Utakarra property, and were unable to confirm whether all five people lived there.

There have been reports from local residents that the area is known for illegal camping and drug activity, though Mr Huggett would not confirm whether the incident was drug-related.

Police earlier said significant resources, including local police, detectives and officers from the Tactical Response Group, had been deployed to the area for several hours.

About 10.10am, the Geraldton Guardian witnessed heavily armed Tactical Response Group officers arresting at least one person at a property on Hart Street in Utakarra and calling on other occupants to leave the premises with their arms in the air.

Stepbrothers Hudson Moot, 11, and Chace Reid, 10, whose grandparents live across the road from the Hart Street home, witnessed the raid.

“It was a bit of a shocker waking up, hearing the news, man shot,” Hudson said.

“I thought he was dead, but luckily he got transported to Geraldton Hospital.

“When I saw the SWAT team pull up, I was like, “Wow, first time’. They were yelling. They were telling people to walk out the house with their hands up and walk back. It was a bit scary, but a bit interesting as well.

“It looked like a bit like a television show, you know, like The Rookie. Yeah it looked like one of those things.

“I felt a bit nervous, like I haven’t seen it before.”

Hudson said the occupants’ hands were zip-tied and they were taken to undercover police cars, while officers inspected the house and a nearby shed.

The boys’ grandmother Ros Hughes said that she started seeing police activity about 7am while moving her horses, with the police presence ramping up during the morning.

“The boys and my husband were in the paddock here, mucking out the yard, which they didn’t finish because the police said you better move,” she said.

“They (police) were jumping over the fence, and then there was a loudspeaker saying, ‘Come out of the house with your hands up’.”

Ms Hughes claimed police had previously been called to the house “multiple times”, including about two weeks ago.

“We’ve seen so much coming and going over the road, but nothing surprises you when you have parties coming in at three in the morning and stuff like that. You know, it’s not a normal house,” she said.

Lesley Allen, who owns a property on Allen Road in Moonyoonooka near where the shooting happened, did not know there had been a potential “gunman down on our front road” until watching the news.

“It’s not every day you have a shooting out the front of your place and you’re not aware of it,” she said.

“It was a bit of a shock. We didn’t know anything about it. No one came to the house to alert us.”

Ms Allen said the area had ongoing problems with illegal camping, rubbish dumping and drug dealing, describing it as “pretty bad and pretty constant”.

Her husband had previously approached illegal campers, who she said retaliated by smashing his car with a golf club.

Ms Allen said police were common in the area, but the shooting came as a shock.

An alert was issued just before 3am for people to stay away from the area and wait for further advice.

The initial alert, which contained scarce detail, came after the 32-year-old was shot about 1am.

St John Ambulance was called following reports of a person with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

A spokesperson confirmed he arrived at hospital at 1.58am.

A local who lives on Giles Road said she was jolted awake by a bang about 1am.

“It was a bang that woke me up,” she told The West Australian. “I checked outside and didn’t see anything, so I went back to bed.”

Owner of nearby Woof’s House Dog Daycare, Leah Reynolds, said police were stationed on Narra Tarra-Moonyoonooka Road between Giles and Allen roads.

“They haven’t told us if they will block the road off or anything, I’ve been on the phone to customers all morning who keep asking if they can get through or not,” she said.

The main road, which is a major route for semi-trailers carrying freight, remains open.

“It would be very hard to close because of how busy it is with trucks, there’s not really an alternative way for them to go,” Ms Reynolds said.

Anyone in the Moonyoonooka area early on Wednesday was asked to review dashcam footage for suspicious people or vehicles and contact police on 131 444 or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.