Melbourne gunman killed in shooting

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 10

Melbourne gunman killed in shooting

NZPA-AAP Melbourne One of Australia’s most wanted men, who has been at the centre of an intensive police manhunt since June last year, was shot and killed yesterday.

The Noble Park Gunman, Pavel Vasilof Marinof, aged 39, also known as Paul Marinof or Max Clark, but dubbed “Mad Max” by the news media, was killed in a police shoot-out at Kalkallo, north of Melbourne. He was the centre of an eight-day manhunt costing about sAustl million after he shot and wounded four policemen early on June 19, 1985. The eight-month saga that culminated in today’s shoot-out began when Sergeant Brian Stooke, aged 40, and Senior Constable Peter Steele, aged 26, of the Cheltenham Crime Car Squad, were shot shortly after midnight on June 19 after pulling over a car to question the driver about factory break-ins.

Another two policemen were shot in the hunt for

their assailant. Sergeant Stooke was left a paraplegic. In September the Victorian Government offered a sAustso,ooo reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest and conviction. He was also put on Victoria’s Top 10 most-wanted list

Two detectives were wounded in the shoot-out on the Hume Highway, near Kalkallo yesterday. The police said they were in a serious but stable condition in the Prince Henry’s Hospital. They said the detectives had been staking out a farmhouse yesterday morning when they saw a white panel van with Queensland number plates leaving the property. They followed the van to Wallan, north of Kalkallo, where two children were dropped off at Wallan Primary School. They drove past the panel van shortly afterwards, believed the driver to be the man they had been hunting since June, and continued to follow

him about 10 or 15km south along the Hume Highway. They then drew alongside, showed their police identification and waved the driver down. One detective went to the driver’s side window and the other to the passenger’s side. The police said the driver produced a firearm and fired two shots at the detective nearer him, hitting him in the chest and left hand. He then swung around and fired at the other detective, hitting him in the chest. One of the detectives managed to fire a shotgun blast at the van as it sped off. It proceeded down the highway for a short distance before veering through-a fence and into a paddock. The van was spotted by a police helicopter. The Special Operations Group was called in before the police moved in. They found the driver of the van dead, slumped across the front seat of the vehicle.