Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Major Crash Unit Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner provides an update on investigations into a horrific incident that claimed the life of a child

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Major Crash Unit Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner provides an update on investigations into a horrific incident that claimed the life of a child · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well as we know, a child's been killed in a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: horrific incident at a suburban shopping center in Palmerston. Emergency
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: services were called to reports that a child have been
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: struck by a vehicle at a complex on Molden Terrace
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: at about twelve forty five yesterday. Joining me on the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: line is Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Linda.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, good morning, Katie.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Brendan. Can you talk us through what unfolded yesterday?
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So, a terrible incident occurred yesterday at the Molden Supermarket,
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: as you've said, at about quarter to one pm yesterday
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: or just after twelve thirty, a Dodge Ram utility was
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: being driven or negotiated out of a car park when
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: the driver give me when the driver has mistakenly driven
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: forward instead of reverse, which struck an eleven year old
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: boy who was walking past in front of the vehicle
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: and suffered got a strop for injuries and there's nothing
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: that could be done to save his life. Tragically.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Brendan.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: It is absolutely horrific, to say the least, and you know,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: just thinking of that family now ahead of Christmas and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: what they must be going through, it is honestly a tragedy.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, all deaths on the road are tragic, death of
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: children particularly so and death around this time of year
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: are just even more painful, it seems. So it's not
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: going to be a merry Christmas at all for that family, No, unfortunately.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: So we're major crash detectives are out investigating how and
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: why that's occurred. There are some unusual intricacies involved, which
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: we've got a reasonably good understanding of probably what's occurred
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: and what it's occurred. We'll be following up with either
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: in the coming days to progress progress that he was
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: arrested from at the scene for the purpose of a
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: drug provided blood the hospital. He provided a subjective to
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: a roadside test which returned to presumptive tests for a
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: particular drug, and so we'll wait on forensic toxicology for
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: that before we proceed avenue.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Do we know what what that drug was with that presumptive.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Test, Yes, I haven't disclosed that as yet. That's that's
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: forming part of the investigation.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: You did say that there were some unusual intricacies.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: What do you mean by.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: That things, Well, I mean I don't want to provide
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: a running commentary. Investigation itself. We you know, as a
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: matter of fairness, we need to put things to the
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: driver before we discussed those intricacies for the for the
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: benefit of a full impartial investigation. I'll keep that to
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: ourselves for the minute. In due course, we'll make that
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: known as to what's occurred.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: No, that's fair enough, Brendan. How are the family going.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I understand that they are from interstate and had witnessed
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: what had unfolded.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: They were absolutely distraught, as you can imagine. There are
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: numerous family members with the child, including his mother. There
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: was extended family with him. They were absolutely distraught as
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: you as you would imagine. So it was it was
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: it was very difficult and confronting scene for first responders,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: and not only for the first responders, but for employees
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: of the supermarket and other people shopping and in the area,
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: and you know, all the all the additional areas that
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: are there that are exposed, like the call takers and
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: the CCTV operators. So this this incident is action on
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: CCTV a number of different angles. So it's it's you know,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: there's no no confusion as to what's occurred. We're investigating
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: how wide it's occurred.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: It is utterly heartbreaking. Brendan.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: What is the process now for for you and for
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: your team that are obviously going through a very thorough
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: investigation process.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's there's a number of things that are
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: being focused on, obviously drugs being one, and again that's
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: part of the fatal files that we routinely see involved
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: in these tragic incidents.
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: The the unusual intricacies as as I called them before,
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: will be will be explored, and so we'll do that,
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: you know, as part of the investigation.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's it's it's it's a difficult investigation and
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: we would just implore people to to take care on
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: the roads. Obviously this is not a road to the
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: car park, but nevertheless, you know, take take your time
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: and take care with what you're doing, because you know,
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: I don't think there's any suggestion this was anything other
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: than a tragic accident, but you know, accidents like this
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: can happen.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Brendan, we just days from Christmas. It's such a
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: tragic way, you know, to be heading into Christmas now
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: for this family, and I think everybody in the territory
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: feels really pretty shattered after hearing that this had unfolded.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: What is your advice to territory and so over the
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Christmas break.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, just just slow down and take care. Obviously it's
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: a busy time of year for particularly the top end.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Obviously we've got the weather conditions. I've not looked at
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: the weather forecast, but it's probably inevitable that we'll have
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: a monsoon before long, So the roads are going to
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: be wet. Take your time, take care if you've been
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: drinking or doing drugs, to stay off the road. You know,
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: the fatal five continually coming up in our investigations. In fact,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: I couldn't even tell you the last fatal we had
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: that didn't involve an element of the fatal five. We
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: have an Operation Alia running at the present time by
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: traffic officers. Expect to be drug tested, expect to be
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: breath tested. I can I can say that's a given
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: that that will happen. You know, when I finished work
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: yet there and drove home, I'll stop at an RBT,
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: so expect to see them out. So if you're going
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: to drink, if you're going to do drugs, to stay
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: off the road.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, And Brendan, I really appreciate your time this morning.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: I know this must be a really difficult situation for
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: the police, for all those first responders to have dealt
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: with yesterday. Thank you so much for speaking with us
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and and yeah, no doubt we'll talk again soon.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Thanks for that.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you,