Police check gun ‘incident’

Press, 29 October 1981, Page 1

Police check gun ‘incident’

PA Dunedin An “incident" involving a firearm was being checked by the police after investigations into a loud bang heard by a number of people during the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Dunedin earlier this month, said Detective Inspector L. Dalziel, the head of Dunedin Criminal Investigation Branch, yesterday. However, the police were “quite satisfied” that a shot had not been fired at the Queen. According to the “Otago Daily Times” newspaper the bang was heard by a number of people, including policemen, as the Royal couple stepped out of their car in front of the Museum Reserve about 3 p.m. on October 4. The Queen and the Duke visited the Otago Museum to inspect the New Zealand Science Fair. •

Detective Chief Inspector Dalziel said the police had believed initially that the noise had been caused by somebody setting off firecrackers round the nearby Medical School Library. As a result of further inquiries, the police were now investigating an incident involving a firearm but he declined to say whether a shot had been fired.

The "Otago Daily Times” said that the bang had appeared to go unnoticed by the Queen and the Duke, and that their walk to the museum had not been interrupted.

Chief Inspector Dalziel denied a television report that a youth was being held in custody in connection with the incident: nobody was being held and no charge had been laid. '