Gunman dies in school near Brisbane

A policeman and a gunman were killed and students at four schools were temporarily locked in their classrooms today during a shoot-out near Brisbane.

Australia’s Sky News said a senior police officer was shot dead after he confronted an armed man.

No students were hurt.

Police said they were still investigating the shoot-out, which took place on scrub land near the schools in Caboolture, about 25 miles north of Brisbane.

They cordoned off the area and by this afternoon students were allowed to leave their classrooms.

The man who shot dead the policeman died at the scene, the statement said.

Officers are rarely shot at in Australia, which banned the ownership of many types of guns after the 1996 massacre of 35 people by a lone gunman at Port Arthur, a historic tourist site in Tasmania state.

“A man armed with a weapon was confronted by police officers,” police spokesman Leon Bedington said.

“Tragically, one of the police officers was shot dead and a short time later the believed offender was also found dead from a gunshot wound.”

He said initial reports showed the gunman appeared to have shot himself.

Education Queensland spokesman Paul Reynolds said all the children – who were locked in their classrooms for about an hour – would be given counselling.