Police divers find firearms

Posted on August 19, 2008, 5:05pm and updated on August 20, 2008 at 10:34 am

Police divers found parts of firearms in the water at Hells Hole south of Mount Gambier on Tuesday.

The search followed recent discoveries by two recreational divers of a loaded shotgun in the sinkhole on June 30 and a second shotgun the next day.

It’s believed the weapons could have been stolen during a housebreak four years ago in Mount Gambier.

Four divers from the Water Operations Unit in Adelaide were winched 20 metres into the water from a platform. They found a silencer 10 minutes into the dive and soon afterwards discovered the stock of a firearm and 20 shotgun shells.

One of the shotguns was identified as one of 14 firearms stolen during a Mount Gambier housebreak in 2004, but the serial number on the other shotgun was illegible, according to the Water Operations Unit supervisor Sgt Rob Badenoch.

“The tip of the one shotgun’s barrel was sticking out of the sludge when the diver found it and the other shotgun was found about 20 metres from the first one,” Sgt Badenoch said.

“It is hard to tell how long these firearms have been in the water as they only really start to rust when they are taken out of the water.”

“We will take our find to the Mount Gambier police so that it can be checked for links to the housebreak or to see if it had been used.”

The divers’ search continued until late yesterday afternoon among rubble such as electric heaters, computers and scrap metal.

Mount Gambier police sergeant Tony Scott warned divers to treat any firearms or ammunition they may find in a sinkhole with caution.

“If anyone finds any weapons, they should report it to the police, and if they do not feel comfortable taking it out of the water, they should notify the police and our divers will search for it,” Sgt Scott said.

ANELIA BLACKIE

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