The Gun Shop Seige That Brought Adelaide To A Standstill

In 1976, former detective Mick Symons received a call about shots fired on a busy inner-city street in Adelaide.

A man was holding hostages in a gun shop on Rundle Street East, down the road from a crowded fashion show.

“It was almost like the Roman Coliseum. We had all these people lined up 50 to 75m away from this, in their minds, show. And we had bullets flying in all directions,” Symons said.

Symons shares how the scene unfolded on this episode of Crime Insiders: Detectives:

Symons took a position across the street from the gun shop, when the gunman crawled outside.

“Myself and another chap ran towards the guy as he was walking towards the crowd with the two shotguns,” Symons said.

I yelled at him. Don’t be effing stupid. He stopped dead, turned around and looked at me and said, who’s effing stupid? And brought up the two guns,”

Mick Symons said.

A police marksman had the open authority to shoot if anyone’s life was in jeopardy, and fired a shot as the gunman held up his shotguns.

Subscribe to Crime Insiders, taking you beyond true crime. In groundbreaking interviews, explore the world of policing and forensics through stories from the world’s most experienced and decorated experts.