SHOOTING IN PARK

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 137, 11 June 1936, Page 9

SHOOTING IN PARK

MELBOURNE INQUIRY MASKED MEN AND POLICE SUPERINTENDENT OPENING- EVIDENCE .... —— United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. MELBOURNE, June 10. His encounter with two masked men at a rendezvous prearranged with a member of the underworld was described by Superintendent Brophy at the opening of the Royal Commission which is inquiring into the shooting of Superintendent Brophy and the authenticity of police statements connected with it. • Judge Macindoe is Royal Commissioner. Mr. L. Stretton, who is assisting the commissioner, said that the whole incident was thick with confusion and mystery. Superintendent Brophy, whose arm was in a sling, related that on the night of May 22 he received a telephone message from a member of the underworld who offered to give information regarding "gunmen" operating around the city at Royal Park, in the (Vicinity of Parkville. Brophy agreed to a meeting at the spot arranged by the informer. ) Judge Macindoe asked for the man s name, and Brophy undertook to supply the name privately in order to protect the informer from the vengeance of his companions. Later that evening, said Brophy, he sought the use of a private car belonging to Mrs. Orr, wife of the licensee of Tattersall's Hotel, as it was undesirable to use police cars, with the numbers of which the underworld was familiar. A barman from Tattersalls Hotel named Maher drove the car, and Mrs. Orr was a passenger. HOLD-UP IN PARK. The car was stopped at the spot in Royal Park arranged by the informer, when suddenly Mrs. Orr exclaimed to Maher: "There's a man alongside the car, Billy." Brophy said that at thai, moment he noticed a man on each side of the car, one of ; them being masked. The other flashed a torch into the car and called'out, "Hands up and keep quiet." He also exclaimed, "It's Brophy." , Brophy added: "I dived for my pistol, which was a small calibre one, and a man shouted 'Don't shoot.' I did not hesitate. I fired-and the man fired back,, the bullet shattering my wrist. I fired again, and I am practically certain that I wounded him. He continued firing, four bullets striking me. The other man disappeared. Judge Macindoe: Were they both shooting? , "Yes," Brophy replied. One nrea and punctured a tire." Brophy _ explained that the men sped away in a car. Maher pursued them until he was compelled to stop by the fiat tire. Brophy explained that the reason why he gave an incorrect account ot the shooting in the first place was that he did not want to compromise Mrs. Orr and another woman friend of Mrs. Orr's, nor did he want his own wife and daughter, who were practically invalids, to hear that he had been shot by bandits. Brophy said he was convinced that the informer was not associated with the shooting.

THOUGHT THERE WAS NO DANGER. Mr. Stretton asked: Didn't it occur to you that it was unusual for a man of your rank to go out on ordinary dU Brophy: I do ordinary duty' if necessary. It is done in other States. Mr. Stretton: Didn't it occur to you that there was a certain amount 01 danger that night? Brophy: If I had thought there was the slightest danger I would not have taken two ladies. I believe it was las big a surprise to the criminals Mr. Stretton: Could you not have picked a trusted policeman to drive your car? ~ Brophy: "I would not trust brother detectives in a case like this." He added that it was no use calling local police or a patrol to search for the attackers, as they would not know who to search for.

NO INTENTION TO DECEIVE. Mr. Wilbur Ham, K.C., who is appearing for the Melbourne ' Herald and its reporters, said he was going to suggest that the original accident theory was a subterfuge to hide the fact that Brophy was out with women. Brophy interjected: "There was nothing sinister, I was pot in the car with one but with two women." He said he was >not responsible for the accident story told to the reportgrs, and he had no intention of deliberately deceiving the police chief, Sir Thomas Blarney. Mr. Ham' suggested that Brophy did everything possible to help the assailBrophy replied that if he had given full information his assailants could have been in Hong Kong before he was aware of their movements. There had been several hold-ups at Royal Park, added Brophy, but some had not been reported, in the interests of women whose reputations were at stake. The story told at police headquarters that he had accidentally shot himself with his own pistol was a stopgap excuse and a pure fabrication. It was realised that the real truth would have to corns out, but not n6c£ssarily for the public. The hearing was adjourned.

A Melbourne cable on May 24 stated that Superintendent John O'Connell Brophy, who began duty as chief of the Victorian criniinal investigation branch a week earlier, had been shot in the face and right arm in some mysterious manner. The Police Department was exceedingly reticent. It was reported that four shots were fired by a gangster from a car, one bullet striking Mr. Brophy's cheek, another his right arm, a third the back of his neck, and the fourth over the heart, but was deflected by something in his pocket. A Police Press Bureau official in a statement declared Mr. Brophy was accidentally shot in the right arm while handling his own pistol at police headquarters. Newspaper reporters, who are banned at the detective office, however, were stated to have ascertained that Mr. Brophy was shot by a hold-up gang who mistook him for a prominent Melbourne bookmaker who habitually carries a large sum of money. An official police statement declared that Mr. Brophy went to Royal Park to try and catch some car bandits who had been operating in that locality and was himself held up by two armed men who apparently recognised him and fired three shots before Mr. Brophy could manipulate his own revolver, which jammed. One bullet passed through Mr. Brophy's lower jaw, just missed a vital artery, and emerged at the back of his neck. Another broke his right wrist and a third I was deflected from his heart by the buckle of his braces.