Bridie Jabour: The emergency situation declared in Queen Street Mall has been officially lifted by police. It should mean people are allowed back in the mall but it will be up to individual stores whether they open again or not.
Police have confirmed the alleged gunman is 34 years old.
Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 131 114.
Bridie Jabour: All bus stops in the CBD are open and Translink is expecting only minor delays this afternoon.
A spokeswoman said it was looking "pretty good" and all the bust stops previously closed, including the Queen Street bus station and bus stops on George, Edward and Adelaide streets are now open.
When reports emerged of a gunman in one of Brisbane's busiest shopping malls, workers and shoppers shared their observations and photographs on social media.
Many firsthand images of gunman in QueenSt Mall #Brisbane coming into @trendsmapplus Thankfully caught & all safe now twitter.com/TrendsmapPlus/…
— Trendsmap Plus (@TrendsmapPlus) March 8, 2013
Marissa Calligeros: The alleged gunman was due to face court in the near future.
His case, relating to multiple charges, was mentioned in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on Wednesday this week.
The case was adjourned to a later date.
Marissa Calligeros: The alleged gunman was due to face court in the coming days.
The man faced Caboolture Magistrates Court on Wednesday this week and his case was adjourned to a later date.
Update on the situation in the Queen Street Mall.
The lower half of the Queen Street Mall (Edward - Albert St) has re-opened. The top section (Albert - George St) remains temporarily closed.
— Queen Street Mall (@queenstreetmall) March 8, 2013
VIDEO: a man has been detained in Brisbane after brandishing a gun at Queen Street Mall.
Ambulance takes gunman from shopping mall
A man has been detained in Brisbane after brandishing a gun at Queen Street shopping mall.
- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
Tony Moore: Premier Campbell Newman and Police Minister Jack Dempsey have thanked Queensland police officers for their work containing the situation in the Queen Street Mall today.
“Police have done an exceptional job to contain this person, without injury to any members of the public,” Mr Newman said.
“I would like to congratulate them on their quick response and professionalism in handling such a stressful situation.
“I would also like to thank the general public for following all directions from police quickly.”
Well done to the Qld Police for resolving the incident in the Queen St Mall safely for the public
— Campbell Newman (@theqldpremier) March 8, 2013
Mr Dempsey said all officers involved deserved a “pat on the back” for their good work.
“From the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) to those officers cordoning off the area, each officer has performed outstandingly and performed their duties with the utmost professionalism,” Mr Dempsey said.
“Operations in such a populated and busy area can be complex and difficult but the Queensland Police Service’s control of the situation ensured the general public remained calm and safe."
Bridie Jabour: Police have shot a man armed with a gun in Queen Street Mall after an hour and half showdown in Brisbane's centre.
The mall was locked down at 11.20am after the man threatened officers, with what they believe was a handgun, while they were doing random street checks in the Myer Centre.
Simon O'Brien: There's a clear consensus in the brisbanetimes.com.au newsroom that the police involved in today's Queen Street Mall drama did an incredible job.
Not only did they respond quickly by evacuating Brisbane busiest shopping precinct, they also stayed cool and calm to detain the gunman without any loss of life.
Readers and staff alike have been expressing their gratitude for Brisbane's thin blue line.
Scott Beveridge: Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Ainsworth praised mall workers and shoppers for following police directions and quickly evacuating the mall.
He wouldn’t confirm how many shots were fired but said the man in his ‘‘early 30s’’ suffered a minor injury.
Simon O'Brien: brisbanetimes.com.au reader Albert van Wyk captured this footage of police confronting the Queen Street Mall gunman.
Marissa Calligeros: The Queen Street Mall has re-opened.
People are now slowly making their way back to their offices and shops.
Tony Moore: Buses through Brisbane's CBD will be delayed until Translink receives advice from police, a Translink spokesman said.
Brisbane's CBD bus stations are now closed - the Queen Street bus station and bus stops on George, Edward and Adelaide streets.
‘‘That is the Queen Street bus station station in particular,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘We also have closures on George, Adelaide and Edward streets.
‘‘Obviously in the immediate area of the siege.’’
Buses coming into the central city are being diverted at the Cultural Centre at South Brisbane from the southside and King George Square busway station.
‘‘So bus services from the northside and some western suburbs are terminating at King George Square and services from the southside and eastern suburbs are terminating at the Cultural Centre,’’ he said.
He estimated delays could be in place for at least an hour until police inspections were finalised.
‘‘It really is up to police,’’ he said.
Simon O'Brien: brisbanetimes.com.au reader Albert van Wyk captured this footage of the Queen Street Mall standoff beginning.
Marissa Calligeros: "Basically the situation arose as police were doing proactive work in relation to crime matters in the city," Detective Superintendent Mark Ainsworth said.
"They were conducting standard police operations - a street check on the male - and this is what has occurred."
AAP: Taxi driver Tariq Khan, who said he witnessed the final moments of the siege, says the gunman was screaming to police: ‘‘Shoot me, shoot me.’’
He says at one stage the gunman was offered, and accepted cigarettes, and had a smoke.
He’s being taken to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
Marissa Calligeros: "The police have done an exceptional job containing this man," Superintendent Mark Ainsworth said.
Scott Beveridge: A police spokesman has confirmed officers fired two shots but they were "not bullets''.
"It's over,'' he said.
Marissa Calligeros: A man, believed to be aged in his mid 20s or early 30s, is being taken by ambulance to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
The ambulance is currently en route to the hospital.
There are reports the shirtless man was shot in the shoulder or arm.
It is also believed that the man was holding a gun to his chin throughout the negotiations with police.
Marissa Calligeros: It appears the man is being taken to hospital by ambulance.
An ambulance has left Queen Street Mall and is making its way down George Street.
It would appear the situation has been brought under control.
Scott Beveridge: Tanya, from a nearby shoe store, said as she was evacuated she heard two "gunshots'' and police state "we've got him''.
Marissa Calligeros: Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Ainsworth has confirmed the alleged gunman has been arrested.
Marissa Calligeros: Sky News is reporting that the alleged gunman has been arrested.
Police cannot confirm any reports of an arrest.
Marissa Calligeros: Gun shots have been heard in the mall.
SERT squad officers are on the move.
Marissa Calligeros: Police appear to be on the move.
Dozens of SERT squad officers have been seen running through the mall.
One of our reporters on the scene Scott Beveridge just heard what he believes to be two gunshots.
Click for more photos
Gunman in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall
Police surround the alleged gunman. Photo: Albert van Wyk
Marissa Calligeros: Media choppers have not been able to get a glimpse of the man for about 30 minutes.
It is not clear where he is in the mall the moment, but it is believed he could have retreated back inside the Myer Centre, or further towards the Hungry Jacks store.
4BC: 4BC is reporting that the gunman is believed to be aged in his 20s.
Scott Beveridge: Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Ainsworth said officers noticed the man and posed some routine questions then he pulled the gun.
The man walked away and police started evacuating the mall.
He is urging everyone to stay away from the city and mall area.
Marissa Calligeros: Police are expected to address the media shortly, near Albert Street. Stay with us to find out what officers at the scene have to say.
Marissa Calligeros: A police spokesman has confirmed officers are negotiating with the alleged gunman.
It is not clear whether police are talking to the man via a mobile phone or face-to-face.
Marissa Calligeros: Hundreds of people are milling around the outskirts of the mall, with their camera phones at the ready.
Police have blocked off every entrance to the mall.
Amy Remeikis: Ashlea Low who works in a clothing store in the mall said about 11.30am her colleague Jacquie warned everybody needed to go to the back of the store because there's a gunman.
So everybody went to the back of the store and shoppers joined them.
She said the man is quite heavily built and has multiple tattooes and was bald and was acting "crazy'' and seemed "amped up''.
"He was yelling a lot,'' she said.
A police officer came in and told everybody to stay where they were.
About five minutes ago, the workers and shoppers were evacuated and escorted up the mall and moved to George Street behind barricades that had been set up.
"It's a scariest and craziest thing I've seen in my life,'' she said.
But Jacquie Tarres, who was in the store with Ashlea, said everybody was very calm and police kept them well back from the situation.
Tony Moore: Staff from Brisbane City Council's Visitor Information Centre have now been evacuated from their shop in the middle section of the Queen Street Mall, a spokesman from Lord mayor Graham Quirk's office said.
Marissa Calligeros: There are reports police have cornered the man and are negotiating with him.
Marissa Calligeros: Police are now reportedly trying to negotiate with the shirtless gunman.
4BC: 4BC are reporting that police are telling everyone to move to King George Square.
Bridie Jabour: One woman said she was in Dotti when they shut down the store and told shoppers it was their decision to "stay or go".
Bridie Jabour: Police have yelled at the crowd there is a man with a gun at the top of the mall and they are in danger if he comes down. Telling crowd to go.
Bridie Jabour: One woman said she was in the Myer centre when employees ran out screaming and crying "run, there is a man with a gun."
Bridie Jabour: I am at Queen Street mall where hundreds have been evacuated because a man with a gun is reportedly on the loose.
Marissa Calligeros: Heavily-armed Special Emergency Response Team officers have gathered outside the Westpac Bank on the corner of Queen Street and George Street at the top of the mall.
Marissa Calligeros: Shops in Adelaide Street have now reportedly been told to also close their doors.
Simon O'Brien: Police peer around the corner of a building in the Queen Street Mall.
Armed police peer around the corner of a building in the Queen Street Mall. Photo: Nine News
Marissa Calligeros: The shirtless man appeared incredibly agitated as he sat on a red chair in the middle of the mall.
The man, wearing black shorts, has been pacing around the mall.
It appears he has retreated into the Myer Centre, and left the empty chair in the middle of the mall, near Milano's restaurant.
If you have more information or photographs, please email to scoop@brisbanetimes.com.au.
Nine News: Channel 9 are reporting police have guns drawn on the man in Queen St Mall.
An aerial shot of the scene. Photo: Nine News
Marissa Calligeros: It appears the alleged gunman has retreated back into the Myer Centre, after sitting on a chair outside a restaurant in the middle of the mall.
Police are attempting to contain the gunman.
The heavily-armed Special Emergency Response Team has arrived, as well as the dog squad.
Amy Remeikis: The guman is reportedly a man looked to be aged in his 20s.
He was seen wearing no shoes and no shirt, allegedly carring a handgun and walking through the Queen Street Mall shouting somebody's name.
Amy Remeikis: SERT has just arrived. The alleged gunman at the George Street end of the mall.
Police have concentrated their efforts there and the public has been pushed back to the corner of George and Elizabeth streets.
The public has been pushed
Bridie Jabour: The alleged gunman apparently made his way down from the Myer Centre to Hungry Jacks in the mall, terrified shoppers were told as they were evacuated.
Mayra Treacy was shopping in Dotti when the assistants started closing it up, telling her she had to make the decision to stay or go.
‘‘I asked what was going on and they told me there was a gunman at Hungry Jack's,’’ she said.
‘‘And I decided to stay because I thought it would be safer.’’
Police eventually came to the shop telling everyone to get out and go down to the end of the mall.
Ms Treacy sprinted down the mall with the Dotti shop assistants.
‘‘It caused quite a spectacle,’’ she said.
‘‘You think this type of thing happens in America, not here.’’
Marissa Calligeros: Police have evacuated the entire Queen Street Mall amid reports of a shirtless gunman in the shopping precinct.
Stores, including the Myer Centre, have been placed in lockdown and the surrounding streets have been closed to traffic.
Witness, Olivia, has told media she was having a meal in the Myer centre when three men in plain clothes confronted another man nearby.
‘‘The guy ripped off his shirt and pulled out a gun and pointed it at them,’’ she said.
‘‘The other three men who looked like plain clothes police pulled out their guns and screamed at the man to get down on the ground.
‘‘They kept screaming ’Get on the ground, get on the ground’ but he ignored them and kept walking around.’’
Olivia said people started running away, and the three plain clothes officers told people to take refuge in nearby shops.
A short time later they began ushering people out of the Myer Centre.
Another witness Georgia Date said she saw a man running though the mall, but couldn’t confirm if he was carrying a gun.
‘‘This guy was running around and the cops were all chasing him,’’ she said.
‘‘The cops were yelling ’get out of the mall’. So we just bolted."
Staff from the Brisbane City Council Visitor Information Centre located in the middle of the mall are locked inside their small office.
Myer employees ran crying through the centre screaming "run, there is a man with a gun".
Maxine Anderson was one of hundreds shoppers evacuated from the centre and said there was "mass panic" when the employees came running.
"I was on an escalator and the Myer employees ran out screaming 'run, there's a man with a gun'," she said.
"I tried to get out the main entrance but they closed it off and I had to go through Elizabeth Street."
She said it took about five minutes to get out as people ran for the exits.
At the Elizabeth Street end of mall, there are hundreds of bemused but calm people.
Police declared an emergency situation in the mall under the Public Safety Preservation Act at 11.20am, after receiving reports of an armed person.
"The area has been evacuated and motorists and pedestrians are advised to avoid the area," police said in a statement.
