Grandfather recounts terrifying alleged run-in with armed intruders

A Queensland grandfather has recounted the moment he confronted an armed intruder who allegedly tried to break into his home, leaving him with a broken arm. Emergency services were called to a property in Ripley near Ipswich about 1.25pm on Monday afternoon after reports of shots being fired inside a house. It’s understood two armed intruders allegedly broke into the home, where they assaulted 71-year-old Don Currie, before firing a round of shots in his direction and fleeing the scene. “I was yelling at them to get out of the house, and next minute, this dude comes round to the back of the Christmas tree, and he just says ‘I’m gonna shoot’ and just went bang,” Mr Currie told Sunrise, adding he hid behind a wall because he “didn’t have time to think”. It was then he spotted a gun sticking out of the window. “He stuck the gun out the window … I thought I could grab it and pull him out the window with it. He put it out on an angle and fired again and he missed, luckily,” the grandfather recalled. Even with the threat of a weapon in his face, Mr Currie didn’t hesitate to try and grab it away from the alleged intruder. “I said, ‘I’m gonna take it off him, and bash him with it’,” he laughed. Police understand one man allegedly fled the scene in a white Mitsubishi Magna and the other sped off on a blue motorbike. When the alleged thieves tried to make a run for it, Mr Currie’s friend, Peter Jackson, who was painting Mr Currie’s home nearby, ran over to assist with an star picket – an anchor used in temporary fencing or to cordon off an area. “(Mr Jackson) comes flying up after he heard the gunshots and he was wielding a star picket and smashed the back window and all the side windows,” Mr Currie recalled. “Whilst he was doing that, I was feeding punches through the driver’s side window at the driver and trying to grab the keys, but unfortunately, couldn’t grab them.” It’s alleged the driver of the white Mitsubishi then tried to aim the gun towards Mr Jackson, who “ducked for cover” while the car reversed and began “flying backwards and forwards” in an attempt to run the two men over. “He was crashing into my beautiful ute at the same time,” Mr Currie recalled, which he used to lock in the alleged thief. However, the driver “pushed it out of the road by ramming it off and took off down the road”. Mr Currie suffered a broken arm as a result of the confrontation and was transported to hospital for medical treatment. That same day, about 4pm, police intercepted a vehicle in Bundamba and arrested a 27-year-old male. The 27-year-old was charged with two counts of burglary and one count each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, serious assault, assault occasioning bodily harm whilst armed, acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving whilst disqualified. The 27-year-lod appeared before Ipswich Magistrates Court and has been remanded in custody. He is set to face court again on Wednesday, December 18. The second man who was allegedly involved in the burglary is still on the run.