Sydney CBD - Security Guard Shooting

[REALJEM]

Security guard injured in CBD shooting


Police at the site of the shooting in Sussex Street. Photo: Nick Moir

A Chubb security guard is in a critical condition after being shot in the chest during a routine cash pick-up in Sydney's CBD this morning.

Police said four men in a silver Audi stopped a armoured security van outside a hotel near the corner of Market and Sussex streets about 5.50am.

The men, who were believed to be wearing balaclavas, approached the security guards in the van and demanded access to it, police said.

There was a fight and it is believed one of the guards was shot in the chest at close range, critically injuring him.

The guards were believed to have been making a cash drop at a food court.
Police said the alleged thieves left in the Audi and were last seen heading south on Sussex Street.

It is believed the men did not leave with any cash.

A gym employee and a garbage truck worker were understood to have witnessed the shooting.

The injured guard was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
The man's colleagues are still at the site of the shooting.

A witness said he heard the sound of a tyre blow but did not think anything of it.

He said police arrived a short time later and an ambulance drove off after that.
Peak-hour traffic chaos is expected, with Sussex Street closed between Market and Druitt streets.

Police warned the four men were dangerous and should not to be approached.

[REALJEM]

A Chubb security guard has died after being shot in the chest during a routine cash pick-up in Sydney's CBD this morning.
Homicide detectives are treating the shooting of the 59-year-old guard from Sutherland Shire as murder.
Police said four men in a silver Audi stopped an armoured security van near the corner of Market and Sussex streets about 5.50am.
Police at the site of the shooting in Sussex Street. Photo: Nick Moir
The men, who were believed to be wearing balaclavas, approached the security guards in the van and demanded to be let in, police said.
There was a fight and one of the guards was shot in the chest at close range, fatally wounding him.
The guards were believed to have been making a cash drop at a food court under three tower buildings collectively known as Darling Park, at the corner of Sussex and Market streets.
Police are viewing CCTV footage from inside the building.
The guard was shot just inside the doorway of the food court.
The injured guard was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he died.
Police said the robbers left in the Audi and were last seen heading south on Sussex Street.
A gun from one of the security guards was stolen, police said.
It is believed the robbers did not leave with any cash.
A gym employee and a garbage truck worker were understood to have seen the shooting.
A witness said he heard the sound of a tyre blow but did not think anything of it.
He said police arrived a short time later and an ambulance drove off after that.
Peak-hour traffic delays were expected, with Sussex Street closed between Market and Druitt streets. Traffic was being diverted.
Police warned the four men were dangerous and should not to be approached. Homicide detectives have arrived at Sussex Street.

[REALJEM]

FAMILY and friends grieve for a veteran security guard killed in a brazen attack in the centre of Sydney, his killers remained on the run last night.

Gary Allibon, 59, from Kirrawee, had 11 years' experience in the industry and there was speculation yesterday that his determination to resist the swathed men and protect his colleagues cost him his life.

Attacks on security guards are all too common. About once a month a cash van is robbed somewhere in Sydney. Few attacks end in death. Five or six guards are understood to have been killed in the past three decades.

But it is believed Mr Allibon was no stranger to the dangers of his job. He had reportedly been the victim of an attack in North Sydney last year.

Before he was a security guard, Mr Allibon worked for Qantas.

Bill Allibon told the Herald his nephew was very good at his job and enjoyed the work.

''He never seemed to worry. He really liked the job.''

Early yesterday morning he was one of three Chubb security guards attacked by four armed men outside the Darling Park office complex in Sussex Street. The men, wearing balaclavas and carrying firearms, had approached the van before demanding money. It is unclear if Mr Allibon resisted but seconds later he was shot in the chest. He died in hospital.

Police say the men took Mr Allibon's gun and stole some cash before escaping in what was believed to have been a stolen car. Police have viewed security footage from cameras across the city to try to piece together the robbers' movements before the attack. Last night police were trying to enhance some of the footage to identify the number plates on the car used, believed to be a silver Audi sedan.

Until the car is identified police cannot confirm to whom it belonged. So far no match has been found, though a similar car had been seen in the central business district. Police warned people not to approach the car.

Detective Inspector Mark Henney from the robbery squad rejected suggestions of an inside job. ''The difficulty is that there were a number of guards who had various roles during this security operation,'' he said.

The Police Minister, Michael Daley, said it was ''a cowardly attack on a bloke who was simply going about his daily business''. He denied suggestions that too few staff protected the vans.

Mr Allibon is survived by his wife Monica, parents George and Patricia, and brothers Michael, Ian and Neil.

[REALJEM]

Guard's widow tells how gunman snatched dream away

The widow of a security guard shot dead in an armed hold-up in Sydney's CBD says she used to thank God every time her husband walked through the door alive.

Monica Allibon said her husband, Gary, had planned to retire within months and would not have fought with the men who shot him as he made a cash delivery in Sussex Street yesterday morning.

"He's not an angry man. He was a gentle man," a distraught Mrs Allibon said.

"He just would have said 'Take the money.' "

Mrs Allibon said family and friends had tried to talk the 59-year-old from Kirrawee into quitting his cash-in-transit job with Chubb Security after he was attacked previously while making a delivery.

But, she said, he insisted he continue despite the dangers of the job.

"I just thanked God every time that he came home to me," Mrs Allibon said.

Mr Allibon was about to retire to coincide with his 60th birthday and the couple's 25th wedding anniversary.
They had planned to travel and buy a new car.

"We were so very close. We lived for each other," she said.

Police today said they had received a number of phone calls over the past 24 hours in regard to the attack.

Officers believe three men, each dressed in balaclava and hoodies and two holding hand guns, approached the van while a fourth man sat in the getaway car - thought to be a silver Audi worth $260,000.

Detective Acting Superintendent Greg Antonjuk said it did not appear there was any physical confrontation between the thieves and the three men before a single gun shot was fired into Mr Allibon's chest.

"I am fairly concerned that there is a high degree of callousness in this incident," he said.

The four men, who took an undisclosed amount of cash, were last seen driving south on Sussex Street yesterday morning.

Detective Acting Superintendent Antonjuk said detectives were still trying to locate the car.

[REALJEM]

Sydney guard killing: torched getaway car found

The getaway car believed to be used in the fatal shooting of armoured van guard Gary Allibon was found torched in parkland in south-west Sydney last night, police say.
Police and firefighters were called to Deepwater Regional Park off Henry Lawson Drive at Milperra about 11pm to find flames ripping through a silver Audi S8 sedan.
Police say the high-performance car, which was burnt out, may be the same car used by three or four masked bandits who robbed a Chubb armoured van on Sussex Street in the city about 6am on Monday.
Forensic specialists will go over the car in the search for clues to the killers of Gymea Bay security guard Gary Allibon, 59, who was fatally shot during the robbery.
Detectives from Strike Force Lorimer say they'd like to speak to anyone who may have seen a similar car in the Milperra area between 11pm yesterday and 12.30am today.
A funeral will be held for Mr Allibon at St Catherine's Laboure Church on Gymea Bay Road at Gymea at 9.45am on Tuesday.
A service at Woronora Crematorium on Linden Street, Sutherland, will follow.
Mr Allibon's wife, Monica, said she was expecting a large turnout after hearing from hundreds of her husband's friends and former colleagues.
The couple, who have no children, were to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and Mr Allibon's 60th birthday next February.
Mrs Allibon said her husband was planning to retire on his birthday and the couple had recently booked a three-week cruise to Honolulu, which they planned to take in September.
"I'm a very strong person and I'll get through it but I'm struggling," she said today.
"I used to say to him, 'You're the closest thing to a perfect man but don't let it go to your head.'"
"God just knew what he was doing because he absolutely blessed me with this man," she said.
"I always say to people 'forget the rest because I've got the best'."

[REALJEM]

guard tells of firing at robber

All he could see was the barrel of a gun pointed straight at him. The security guard had watched two armed men follow his colleagues into a bank. A shot rang out before he was confronted by one of the gunmen.
"He raised his firearm and I thought he was going to pull the trigger," the guard later told police. "I feared for my life."
He shot his assailant, Kaled Dib, in the chest. Mr Dib staggered back into the getaway car, which took off.
Fifteen minutes later, the fatally injured man was taken to Auburn Hospital on the back of a ute and left at the emergency department.
Four days after security guard Gary Allibon was shot dead by armed robbers in the CBD, an inquest was held yesterday into the death of Mr Dib, 25, a married electrician.
The Coroner's Court in Glebe heard Mr Dib was shot during an attempted armed robbery on August 19, 2008.
Referring to Mr Allibon's death on Monday and Mr Dib's death, Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon expressed the hope that "foolish young men would desist" from involvement in armed robberies.
The inquest was told that Mr Dib and two others pulled up beside an Armaguard truck as staff delivered cash to the NAB branch in Parramatta. His revolver, stolen earlier from another Armaguard crew, contained six live rounds.
Mr Dib and an armed accomplice were captured on CCTV security footage following the guards towards the bank, then fleeing when one fired a shot.
The guard outside, whose name is suppressed, said Mr Dib ran towards him.
"I looked at him and he's just raised his firearm, straight at me," he told police. "All I could see was the barrel of the firearm pointed directly at [me] ... I felt I was going to be shot."
The guard yesterday told the inquest he fired his gun, believing that action "saved my life".
Mr Dillon declined to refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions, finding the guard shot Mr Dib "in lawful self-defence".*

[eagleboy]

Police are hoping a minor car accident on the Harbour Bridge just 10 minutes before a security guard was fatally shot on the steps of a CBD office complex could lead them to the killers.

Detectives investigating the death of Chubb security guard Gary Allibon, 59, during an early morning robbery of an armoured security van last year have made a plea for public assistance.

They believe the three robbers made a U-turn on the Harbour Bridge just before 6am on June 7 last year in pursuit of the Chubb van travelling south into the city.

This morning, investigators released footage of the stolen, silver high-performance S8 Audi sedan on the bridge as well as CCTV footage of the cash robbery on Sussex Street 10 minutes later.

Read more: Car crash clue in death of security guard

[eagleboy]

MURDERS don't come much more cold-blooded than the slaying of Gary Allibon.
Three thieves ambushed the Chubb security guard and his colleagues as they made an early-morning cash drop to a hotel on Sussex St on June 7 last year.

Mr Allibon, who had already been the victim of one armed robbery, handed over the cash, turned away from his attackers and walked towards the hotel.

That should have been the end of it.

New hunt for killers of security guard Gary Allibon | thetelegraph.com.au