NSW: Man charged over pub holdup police shooting
01 Jun 2009 7:17 PM
EDS: Updates with alleged gunman charged.
SYDNEY, June 1 AAP - A policeman shot during an armed siege at a Sydney pub accepts that he could have been killed, but says his training has equipped him to deal with such life-or-death situations.
Sergeant Stephen de Lorenzo, 52, was shot through the shoulder on Sunday after responding to reports of an armed robbery at the Lakes Hotel in Rosebery.
The situation escalated with up to five people being taken hostage and witnesses reporting seven shots being fired.
The siege ended peacefully when police negotiators convinced the gunman, who was wounded in the stand-off, to give himself up four hours after Sgt de Lorenzo was shot.
The 39-year-old faced a bedside court hearing in hospital on Monday and was refused bail after being charged with numerous offences including wounding with intent to murder.
Sgt de Lorenzo has been hailed a hero by NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
However, police have not confirmed media reports the injured officer managed to shoot the gunman three times and take one hostage to safety.
His shoulder wound from the Rosebery shooting was "clean", with the bullet passing through his body, and he was released from hospital later the same day.
The married father of two has since described how the bullet passed through a shoulder muscle, missing bone and tendons.
"It's no secret when you're shot in the shoulder, it's not far from a neck shot or a face shot. You could be dead," Sgt de Lorenzo told the Nine Network on Monday.
"But to see your wife and to see your two beautiful daughters and to know that you're coming home and that everything is fine, it's the best feeling in the world."
Facing violent situations was part of frontline policing in Sydney, he said.
Sgt de Lorenzo was involved in a shooting in 2000, fatally wounding a man outside a Bondi home in a incident the coroner later ruled as self-defence.
"As a street police officer and a first-response officer you're always going to be confronted by something like this at some stage in your police career," he said.
"You don't expect this, you don't get up and say: 'I'm going to be involved in some sort of critical incident,' but it's going to hit you and you've got to be ready and you've got to realise it's going to come at you."
He praised the NSW police training.
"We've got good training and we're capable and we have to step into the corridor when these situations like this arise," Sgt de Lorenzo said.
The alleged gunman will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court on July 20 charged with a number of offences including wounding with intent to murder, armed robbery and detain for advantage.
"As there is an ongoing critical incident investigation no further comment will be made," a police spokesman said.
