Hunt for ‘Unpredictable’ Man After Alleged Crime Spree in Brisbane

Hunt for ‘Unpredictable’ Man After Alleged Crime Spree in Brisbane
A police tape in Australia on Nov. 9, 2018. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
AAP
By AAP
4/9/2023
Updated:
4/9/2023

An accused drug trafficker is being sought by police over his alleged involvement in three violent confrontations across Brisbane, including the burning down of a house.

Queensland Police allege Mitchell Wilson, 27, threatened a number of people with a semiautomatic weapon during three separate incidents on Thursday in Brisbane’s north and south.

“I consider this man armed, dangerous, irrational but particularly unpredictable,” Queensland Police’s Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said on Sunday.

At around 2.45pm on Thursday, Wilson is alleged to have gone to a business at Brendale, in north Brisbane, where he had a verbal altercation with a man known to him before the firearm was discharged into the ground.

Det Supt Massingham said CCTV of the incident was disturbing, adding the vision appeared to show two men in a “life or death” struggle for the weapon.

Soon after, police became aware Wilson’s ankle monitoring bracelet had been left in Bracken Ridge, also in north Brisbane.

Det Supt said Wilson was wearing the device as part of his bail conditions related to alleged drug trafficking offences.

Wilson is then alleged to have driven to a business at Mount Gravatt, south of Brisbane, where at around 8.55pm he approached two women he knew as they left the building before ordering one of them into his car.

“Fearing for their lives, both women fled on foot, hiding in nearby bushes,” Det Supt Massingham said.

It’s alleged Wilson fired his gun as the pair fled. Neither woman was injured.

Then at around 9.15pm, emergency services were called to a home at Sunnybank, also south of Brisbane, following reports it was on fire.

It’s alleged Wilson arrived at the home with the gun and a jerry can of fuel and threatened the resident who was known to him before setting the house alight and fleeing.

Police further allege that while at the Sunnybank home, he was searching for one of the women from the Mount Gravatt incident.

The home was destroyed and a pet was killed in the blaze. No persons were injured.

Extensive searches have failed to locate Wilson and police are urging him to surrender.

“I urge Wilson, if he hears my message today, to make contact with police and safely negotiate his surrender,” Det Supt said.

He is described as Caucasian, about 185cm tall with a solid build, light brown hair and hazel eyes.

He is believed to be armed and should not be approached. Anyone who sees him should call triple zero.