A man is in police custody after allegedly driving a stolen vehicle through the front entrance of a Qantas call centre in Hobart this morning, injuring an employee.
The Dowsing Point business is one of three crime scenes police have established in the northern suburbs today, all of which are thought to be linked.
The dramatic series of events began shortly before 10am when police were called to a Claremont home following reports of an altercation involving the West Moonah man.
Inspector Jason Klug said officers spotted the 55-year-old leaving the area in the “unlawfully obtained” vehicle and tailed him to the call centre in Dowsing Point.
He said the man crashed the car into the entrance of the building and then entered the workplace armed with “some sort of axe or sharp and improvised weapon”.
“The vehicle has travelled from the Claremont area to here at the Qantas and TPG call centre, where it will be alleged that he has driven through the front of that building,” Klug told reporters at the scene.
“At the time that it travelled here and through the building, police were not within sight of that vehicle.”
A female employee, believed to have been known to the man, received minor injuries and was transported to Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.
One of her evacuated colleagues described the noise of the impact as sounding ‘like thunder’.
Klug confirmed police are investigating three linked crime scenes, being the initial altercation site in Claremont, the Qantas call centre and a house fire at an address in West Moonah.
“We are assessing as to whether there is a link between the other two crime scenes and what’s occurred in West Moonah,” he said.
“At this point, we believe that there is certainly a link between the two addresses of Claremont and here. And we’re assessing that third scene as well.”
A Qantas spokesperson described the incident as “very distressing” for staff.
“The safety of our people is our priority and we are providing immediate support to those impacted,” they told Pulse.
“Our Hobart contact centre is currently closed and we thank customers for their understanding.”
Klug praised the bravery of call centre employees who assisted during the incident.
“We would obviously like to acknowledge the courage shown by those people involved that assisted initially with the suspect upon entering that building,” he said.
“We have the suspect in custody and we are following a specific line of inquiry.”
