A security expert says he expects there will be “lessons” from an internal review into how a police firearm was discharged during an attempted arrest at Sydney Airport.<\/p>\n
Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers were responding to reports of a man allegedly acting suspiciously inside the T2 domestic terminal about 6am on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
It is alleged that when officers tried to speak with the man, he became verbally and physically aggressive.<\/p>\n
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The incident took place at the T2 domestic terminal on Wednesday morning. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)<\/p>\n
A current and retired NSW police officer who were both in the area at the time also assisted with the incident.<\/p>\n
During the arrest, an AFP firearm was discharged into a nearby cafe wall and oven.<\/p>\n
No one was injured.<\/p>\n
A 41-year-old man from Victoria has since been charged with obstructing and hindering a Commonwealth official, and creating a disturbance at an airport.<\/p>\n
An internal review has been launched into how the gun, a short-barrelled rifle, was fired.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0AFP Acting Commander Scott Raven said the incident was under an internal investigation. (ABC News: Gavin Coote)<\/p>\n
AFP acting commander Scott Raven said while he could not comment on the circumstances, he was grateful no one was injured.<\/p>\n
“All our AFP officers are professional, highly trained and skilled, and as part of their duties at all our airports, we have a counterterrorism first response, and that includes carrying short-barrelled firearms,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When that firearm discharged, it was very low to the ground, and it was ultimately lodged only a metre away from where the firearm was discharged into an oven, into that cafe.”<\/p>\n
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Security expert Neil Fergus welcomed the review. (Four Corners, file photo)<\/p>\n
Security expert Neil Fergus, who is the chief executive officer of consultancy firm Intelligent Risks, has welcomed the review into how the gun was discharged.<\/p>\n
Mr Fergus, who has advised the federal government on two major reviews of airport security, said it was possible the AFP may need to review its protocols.<\/p>\n
“I’m not criticising the officers concerned, (but) there are always lessons to be learned from any of these incidents,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When the AFP are called by airport staff to deal with a matter like this, they are very well-prepared and trained to deal with it, but were their protocols and training sufficient in this case? That’s going to be something for AFP professional standards to look at.”<\/p>\n
Short-barrelled rifles ‘appropriate’ for airport security<\/p>\n
AFP officers began using short-barrelled rifles in major Australian airports in 2019. (Supplied: AFP)<\/p>\n
AFP officers began using short-barrelled rifles in major Australian airports in 2019 as part of beefed-up counterterrorism measures.<\/p>\n
Mr Fergus said he was confident such firearms were necessary as AFP officers had to deal with “very challenging circumstances, virtually every day”.<\/p>\n
He pointed to a recent security breach at Avalon Airport in Victoria, in which a 17-year-old allegedly boarded a flight armed with a loaded shotgun<\/a>, as another example of the “serious nature of airport security”.<\/p>\n