In the wake of a dramatic escape attempt from Wollongong Hospital on Saturday, Corrective Services NSW has confirmed its officers are permitted to fire weapons to stop an escape.
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A 34-year-old man, charged with armed robbery offences, was accompanied to hospital by two correctional officers on Saturday afternoon after complaining of abdominal pain.
The man allegedly punched an officer in the face, tried and failed to steal his gun, and escaped the hospital.
He was chased by the two officers along Crown Street and Staff Road, when one of the officers fired two shots. The escapee was recaptured with the help of a member of the public, before being charged with escaping from custody.
A spokesman for Corrective Services NSW did not answer questions about whether the shots fired were warning shots, but said corrections officers could use their firearms to prevent an escape.
The spokesman said the Crime (Administration of Sentences) Regulation 2014 permitted corrections officers to fire a weapon if ‘‘it is necessary to do so in order to prevent the escape of an inmate, or to give a warning’’.
‘‘[The regulation] also states a warning shot must be fired in a direction in which no-one is likely to be hit by it,’’ he said.
One officer was treated by paramedics for minor facial injuries after the incident.
The charged man will face Port Kembla Local Court on January 21.
