Press conference at Bega Police Station with Chief Inspector Shane Jessep

Bega District News

Transcript

00:00Chief Inspector Shane Jessup, South Coast Police District, officer in charge of Bega Valley.

00:03Thank you. And do you want to begin with basically the latest and then we'll throw in questions?

00:09Yes, sure.

00:09So around 2am yesterday morning, police responded to calls to East Street in Bega in relation to a violent confrontation taking place there.

00:19As police arrived, there was a crowd involved that dispersed.

00:24Shortly after police arrived, they located the body of a 43-year-old man nearby.

00:30And it was, who had died of the scene.

00:32As a result of that altercation, another male is undergoing treatment at Bega Hospital.

00:38He's a 45-year-old local man as well.

00:42There's been videos circulating of the incident, of which you can hear a lot going on, including the sounds.

00:52It sounds like a chainsaw. Can you confirm what is involved in that video there?

00:56Yeah, I have seen that video as well. I can confirm there was a chainsaw produced during that incident.

01:01At this stage, that chainsaw doesn't appear to be responsible for any injuries sustained at Bega Party.

01:07Do we know what extent the chainsaw was used?

01:09No, that's speculation at this stage.

01:11Okay. Has anyone been arrested and charged at this stage?

01:15No, inquiry's ongoing. It's obviously still very early in this investigation.

01:18In terms of what you do understand about the wounds inflicted upon the victim, I understand that the man in hospital has stabbed wounds.

01:28What about the deceased male?

01:31Initial inquiries, it appears the deceased has suffered a number of stabbed wounds, as well as the male that's still undergoing treatment.

01:37Who do you know who the culprits are?

01:44Inquiry's ongoing. This is a very early investigation. There's a number of lines of inquiry that we are following.

01:49A strike force has been activated.

01:53South Coast Police District detectives, with assistance of State Crime Command Detectives from the Homicide Unit, are conducting investigations.

02:01Should the community be concerned at all that the people you believe are involved have not been arrested yet?

02:07Look, I rest assured, we police firmly believe these parties are all known to one another.

02:12And the ongoing risk to the community, I think, is low.

02:15So, the parties are known to each other. Is it fair to say that this incident was a personal attack? It wasn't a random...

02:23We believe the parties are known to each other, and the dispute has come out of that relationship.

02:29Is it known how many people were involved in the altercation, if that's what you call it, in general?

02:36So, you've got the two people, the person that died, the one in hospital.

02:40Any other idea of how many people were involved altogether?

02:43We're still putting that all together, and obviously, we would be appealing to witnesses or anyone who has more video footage

02:49that we haven't been provided with as yet to come forward and contact with police or the poor crime staffers.

02:55The victims, were they known to police prior to this then?

02:58No, they weren't.

03:00Do you have any other detail as to how you knew the victim and the person in hospital?

03:07No, I can't comment on it.

03:08So, there's still police set up there today, and the room is still closed off.

03:12Do you have any idea how long the police presence will be there?

03:17We're predicting by the end of today, hopefully, that crime scene will be released,

03:21and we will have completed investigations there.

03:23There were rumours suggesting drugs were involved?

03:28Is there anything you can add to that?

03:29I can't comment on that at this stage, but the relationship between all those parties will be examined.

03:34Forensics were analysing a car, broken glass and the like, that was on East Street earlier this week.

03:40Have you pieced together a few minutes information on how that car was involved in the incident?

03:44Not at this stage.

03:46I can confirm that we've ceased two victims from further examinations.

03:50Are you concerned about the dialogue in the community at the moment about the involvement of a chainsaw,

03:56given that the wounds from the deceased and the victim in hospital don't have,

04:01that they don't correlate, like they're not matching up?

04:04Yeah, it is of concern.

04:05I would like to reassure the community that we firmly believe the chainsaw has not been used to inflict any injuries,

04:10and, as I said, that ongoing risk of the community is very low.

04:18OK.

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