Darwin rocked by violent night of mayhem

This week's mass shooting in which four people were shot dead has rocked Darwin because the population is small and people are more likely to know each other.

Comedian Matthew James demonstrates how this week's deadliest mass shooting in the Northern Territory's history affected a small and interconnected town such as Darwin compared to a big city.

Mr James and fellow comedian friend Leah Potter were chatting in the car park outside her apartment when they heard shots which they assumed were illegal fireworks shortly after 5.30pm on Tuesday.

It was soon clear how serious the situation was when they went on to the street and a man was running toward them carrying his 23-year-old girlfriend whose legs were covered in blood.

They brought her inside, wrapped her legs in a towel and called an ambulance.

Tuesday night's one hour of mayhem had started, ending with four men violently killed, a woman seriously injured and a 45-year-old man charged with four counts of murder.

Benjamin Glenn Hoffmann, 45, faced Darwin Local Court on Friday via video link from prison, saying he was "very sorry about what happened" before being remanded in custody to appear again on September 18.

After helping the young, injured woman, Mr James found out from paramedics a man had been shot and killed about two kilometres away in Jolly Street, where he used to live.

The victim, 52-year-old Darwin casino security guard Rob Courtney, who appeared to have tried to fight off the gunman, used to be Mr James' housemate.

"Poor Rob, Rob is a nice guy, I don't know if he might have just done wrong by someone or something," an emotional Mr James told AAP on Tuesday night in the moments after the shootings.

"There were people coming out from the Palms Motel walking past me going 'someone's just been shooting up the Palms' and I'm like: I know because there was just a girl here that I patched up that had buckshot wounds all down her legs.

"They went on a rampage, it is f... hectic, I can't believe this is happening here."

Mr James also knew the suspected gunman, who was well known in Darwin and whose name had quickly gone public in the hours afterwards.

This event has rocked the relatively small and tight-knit Northern Territory capital.

About 100 metres from Ms Potter's apartment is the Palms Motel where the woman was shot and taxi driver and PhD IT student Hassan Baydoun, 33, was killed when he dropped into his home for a meal break.

A large group of distraught and grief-stricken men, including Lebanese relatives, friends and colleagues of Mr Baydoun had gathered outside his apartment after hearing the shocking news that night and again on Thursday night.

"He was a lovely person, he had a good heart. He was a very easy going person who was always smiling, a very happy person who didn't have any enemies and his friends loved him," Mr Salman told AAP.

He desperately missed his mother who he had not seen for three years but was due to visit Lebanon this year where he had been building a house.

Fundraising has started to help pay to fly his body to Lebanon.

Less than a kilometre away, Nigel Hellings, 75, was shot and killed in his Gardens Hill Crescent home.

Only a few hundred metres from there, Michael Sisois, 57, was shot dead in the car park of the Buff Club, nourned by a large extended group of family and friends.

"He was a good citizen, a hard worker, it shouldn't happen like this, I have now lost a brother," his shattered and angry brother Vincent Sisois told reporters.

"Michael was a much-loved son, brother and uncle. He loved and adored his nephews and his nieces like they were his own," said his nephew Charlie Maillis.

The speed of the four killings at four separate locations in about 30 minutes was bewildering and distressing for Darwin's residents, but police commissioner Reece Kershaw reassured them partially by quickly rejecting the possibly of terrorism.

The fall-out has begun, with investigations to come into how such a massacre could occur, whether police, corrections or other authorities could have prevented it and even whether Australia's gun laws are working.

For the moment it is time for Darwin's population to heal, with 200 people of different faiths attending a service held at the city's Memorial Uniting church on Thursday with more to be held on Saturday including Islamic and Christian memorials.

"Everyone has been affected by this, Darwin is just a small town and we all know each other," Ms Potter said.

At Uncle Sam's 24-hour restaurant on the night of the killings, many of the patrons either knew a victim, including Mr Baydoon's taxi driver friends, knew the alleged gunman or had eyewitness accounts.

"We all put it together from each other's stories and supported each other like Territorians do," Ms Potter said.

The Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner told the church service: "For the family and friends of people who have lost their lives in our home, the actions of one does not define us, we are a warm people and a vibrant community."


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Source: AAP


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