RIVERTON SHOOTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1921, Page 12

RIVERTON SHOOTING.

MR. BROOKFIELD’S DEATH. CRAZY RUSSIAN FIRES FORTYONE SHOTS. STORY OF EYEAVITNESS. Further details are to hand of the shooting at Riverton railway station recently in which Mr.’ Percival J. Brookfield, M.L.A., lost his life. Riverton is 65 miles north of Adelaide, South Australia. The shooting was done by a Russian named Koorman Tomayegg, aged 36, who drew an automatic revolver and fired indiscriminately at the crowd as they descended from the train to seek refreshments at the station. Prisoner was formerly a newspaper reporter. He has been in Australia about six years. Mounted-constable Woodhead described the prisoner as very powerful. He said: “I was at the station when the train arrived. I saw the prisoner step off the' train in company with two or three other men, and I took particular notice of this group. I ■walked up towards them. As I was approaching them two shots were fired, and I saw one man fall. Another man was held .up by bystanders and placed in a compartment. Another shot went between me and the train. Then another hit the metal on the line. The man then ran up the platform and I ran towards him. He fired two or three shots at me point blank. I was not armed in any way, and did not have my uniform on. I got behind the picket fence of the Clare platform. I was powerless. The man had only to step over the end of it and he had me. He lost sight of me, however, and ran back to the platform and fired seven shots in rapid succession. He followed me to the end of the platform and went back again and reloaded. I decided to take a sportsman’s risk and ran across th? met al, jumped a fence, and hid behind some stinkwort in a paddock nearby. Without arms I was absolutely helpless-. He had one shot at me while I was hiding in the stinkwort, and it whizzed over my body. Then his attention was diverted from me for a moment, and he went to the end of the platform and once more reloaded. Altogether he fired 41 shots. Somebody fired two shots at him with a rifle. There was a New South Wales policeman on the train, but I did not know at the time Mr. Brookfield asked him for a revolver which he’had. Mr. Brookfield took the revolver and ran right out in the open, firing as he went. The Russian put three bullets into him. and I heard them strike. By this time I had possession of a revolver and rifle. They were brought across to me by the postmaster. ‘•KNOCK HIS BRAINS OUT.” Bj r this time the crowd had got all round the prisoner, and they would have hanged and quartered him had they got hold of him. The Russian’s revolver jammed, and that stopped him shooting. Three fellows on either side pounced upon him simultaneously with me. J said, “Knock his brains out.” Somebody gave him a crack on the head, and down he went. Even with that 1 bl<rw it took four of us all our time to secure him and get the handcuffs on. We got Mr. Brookfield away, and he seemed fatally hurt. The other people were'taken into the railway station and attended to by a doctor.” The assistant stationmaster stated that the shooting occurred about 5 minutes after the arri/al of the train, which was an hour and ten minutes late. It was a full train, and contained about •100 passengers. The alarm went up that a man had run amok. Two shots were heard, and a man was seen hurryin" up towards the other end of the platform. A young man. a passenger on the. train, picked up some stones and threw them at the Russian, but did not bit him. The Russian turned his revolver oi> the young chap, and fired at him point-blank without any shots taking effect. He also had three shots at a young woman, but missed her. By this time the platform bad been cleared. Anyone who stepped out on to the platform was fired at. The stationmaster o-ave orders for the train to be taken out of the station, and this was done. While the train was leaving, the Russian started shooting again, and fired ten or eleven shots at the train. A window which was being shut down by one of the clerks was- smashed by a bullet. The man again went up to the end of the platform, which he had to himself, firing shots in the direction of the stationmaster’s office.