The Tragic Moment An Australian Cop Was Gunned Down With An Automatic After His Car Rolled Over

The chase had spanned more than 20 minutes, but the suspect had barely broken the speed limit and was not driving dangerously. Seconds later, a police vehicle was riddled by automatic gunfire.

Wanted man Ricky Maddison stopped abruptly on Wallers Road – a dirt track near Gatton, west of Brisbane – and unleashed a hail of bullets on a police vehicle at close range, killing one officer inside.

The dashcam footage from the police four-wheel-drive carrying the late Senior Constable Brett Forte and his surviving on-duty partner Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, has been released.

It followed a coronial inquest during the past two weeks that investigated whether anything can be done to reduce the chances of another Queensland police officer meeting a similar death.

Senior Constable Forte and Senior Constable Nielsen were in police vehicle TW573 and behind them was a crew from nearby Helidon, in police vehicle TW269.

TW269: “Automatic gunfire. Automatic gunfire. Urgent, automatic gunfire. A police car has rolled. Automatic rifle, we’re getting out of here.”

TW269: “Shots fired. Need urgent assistance, there’s a vehicle, a police vehicle, that has rolled. He’s shooting automatic gunfire at us. Full automatic.”

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen (in TW573): “Urgent. Urgent. Urgent.”

TW269: “That vehicle is in a lot of trouble. He’s only about 50 metres away with full auto.”

TW269: “We’ve rolled as well. We’ve got two vehicles rolled. We’ve got to try and get out of here.”

Senior Constable Nielsen: “Can someone help?”

Twenty-seven rounds hit the police 4WD, six penetrated the cabin and Senior Constable Forte was hit twice – one hit his right forearm and the second went through the footwell and hit his groin.

Senior Constable Forte, a husband to fellow police officer Susan with three children between them, died less than 15 minutes later while fellow officers were freeing him from his overturned vehicle.

Both police vehicles – TW573 and TW269 – rolled on Wallers Road while the officers inside were trying to reverse away from the hail of automatic gunfire.

After murdering Senior Constable Forte, Maddison retreated to his nearby hideout and, following a 20-hour stand-off with police, was shot dead after emerging with his automatic rifle ready to fire again.