Former rugby league player Garry Sullivan extradited to Melbourne over 1994 armed robbery and shooting
Updated . First published at
A man has been extradited from to to face charges over a 1994 robbery and shooting at a suburban Melbourne shopping centre.
Garry Sullivan, 78, was arrested yesterday after police executed search warrants at two Gold Coast addresses regarding the alleged armed robbery and triple shooting at Chadstone Shopping Centre 32 years ago.
He was charged with eight offences, including armed robbery, intentionally causing serious injury, theft, common law assault and recklessly endangering life.
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Garry Sullivan, 78, was arrested yesterday after police executed search warrants at two Gold Coast addresses. 9News
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He appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday and was released into the custody of Victoria Police today.
Sullivan, who played rugby league for Newtown and for Australia in the 1970 World Cup, arrived in Melbourne this afternoon after being extradited to face the charges in Victoria.
He will appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on June 1.
His arrest follows a public appeal for information about the cold case investigation.
Police acted on new intelligence and forensic testing of crime scene evidence.
It is alleged Sullivan was the masked gunman who shot two Armaguard employees at the shopping centre on May 16, 1994.
The men were at a cinema to retrieve the weekend's takings when they were ambushed by a male offender wearing a balaclava with a handgun and a cardboard box.
Sullivan played rugby league for Newtown and for Australia at the 1970 World Cup. 9News
A 54-year-old man was shot in the lower leg, before the bullet ricocheted off his ankle into the shoe of a 61-year-old man.
A 40-year-old bystander was also shot in the leg, causing "life-altering injuries".
Sullivan is alleged to have made off with a bag which contained $80,000 in cash.
Three people were shot during the incident at Chadstone Shopping Centre in 1994. 9News
Carl Benjaminsen, the son of one of the injured Armaguard employees, was informed of the breakthrough today and said he "couldn't believe" the news.
His father, Sverre, had died without ever seeing his alleged attacker brought to justice.
"It's an unclosed chapter, it's something that, yes it happened a long time ago... but [I was] conscious it was unsolved," Carl told 9News.
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